ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan considers the issue of the return of the Armenian prisoner of war Araik Ghazaryan from Azerbaijan as extremely sensitive.
Thus, on August 14 at a press conference in Yerevan, answering the corresponding question, he said in particular: "This is an extremely sensitive issue for us. As you know, yesterday the Artsakh Foreign Ministry already issued a statement in which it emphasized that efforts are being made to "the repatriation of prisoner of war Araik Ghazaryan. Given the sensitivity of this issue, I would not want to further talk on it."
Earlier, the press service of the Artsakh Defense Army distributed a message according to which on August 12, at about 12:00, the soldier Araik Aikovich Ghazaryan born in 2000 left the defensive site of one of the military units of the Defense Army, deployed in the southeast direction, Later, the Azerbaijani media reported with reference to the military department of Azerbaijan that the soldier is on their territory. Armenian Minister of Defense David Tonoyan expressed confidence that the serviceman appeared on the Azerbaijani side as he got lost on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan disseminated information about the allegedly Armenian soldier leaving his post due to hazing. Light scratches and ordinary scars on Ghazaryan's body are presented as evidence of violence against him. However, the NKR Ministry of Defense denied this information, urging the public not to believe the false accusations of the Azerbaijani side aimed at humiliating the image of the Armenian soldier, and to wait for the ongoing investigation, the results of which will be published.
The Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan also addressed the incident, saying that he had talked with the head of the Armenian mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where he was informed that he had not seen the Armenian soldier in Azerbaijan yet, but steps were being taken in this direction.