Alen Simonyan: There is no agreement on my visit to Baku

ArmInfo. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan stated that a visit to Azerbaijan is not on his agenda.

"I read it, but there is no such agreement regarding my visit to Baku," he said in response to journalists’ question as to whether he was familiar with the appeal by the wife of Ruben Vardanyan, who is held captive in Azerbaijan.

According to him, there has not even been any discussion of this. He said that mutual visits are envisaged, but there are neither dates nor a location. In his words, when there is such an agreement on a visit to Baku, it will then be possible to discuss this issue.

Simonyan also assured that he had never spoken of an intention to visit Baku specifically. According to him, earlier a delegation from the Azerbaijani side, headed by Azerbaijani Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev, visited Dilijan and met with Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan, and a reciprocal visit to Azerbaijan is envisaged at some point. "I can only assume that the reciprocal visit will also not be to the capital, since we did not receive them in Yerevan either," he said.

Earlier, Veronika Zonabend, the wife of Ruben Vardanyan, who is being held captive in Azerbaijan, addressed a public appeal to Armen Simonyan, urging him, in the event of a visit to Baku, to take her with him and facilitate her meeting with her husband.

It should be noted that the exact number of Armenian prisoners of war  and hostages held in Azerbaijani prisons is still unknown. Experts estimate that there are several hundred of them. Today, the Azerbaijani authorities confirm that they are holding 19 Armenians.  Among those held captive in Azerbaijan are, in particular, 8 former and current representatives of the military-political leadership of Artsakh. These include former Artsakh presidents Arkady Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan, former Foreign Minister David Babayan, as well as Parliament Speaker David Ishkhanyan, former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, General Levon Mnatsakanyan, General David Manukyan, and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan.

In February, the Baku puppet court, on fabricated charges, sentenced Arayik Harutyunyan, David Babayan, David Ishkhanyan, David Manukyan, and Levon Mnatsakanyan to life imprisonment, and Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Ghukasyan, and Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison.  The so-called court sentenced the remaining Artsakh Armenians to up to 15 years in prison.