YEREVAN/BAKU. June 28 (Interfax) - Armenia and Azerbaijan have exchanged detainees with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a source in the ICRC Mission in Yerevan told Interfax on Friday.
"One Armenian and one Azerbaijani man returned home on June 28 with the assistance of the ICRC. The exchange was carried out with the consent of the authorities," the source said.
The Azerbaijani State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing People confirmed that Zaven Karapetyan, who was detained in Azerbaijan on June 20, 2017, and Elvin Ibragimov, who was detained in Armenia on March 16, 2019, returned to their home countries. Both men are civilians.
According to the State Commission, Ibragimov was hospitalized as soon as the exchange was accomplished. "He sustained a gunshot wound when Armenian servicemen took him hostage and had several operations since then," the commission said in a statement.
Two Armenian citizens, Arsen Bagdasaryan and Karen Kazaryan, are being held by Azerbaijan. Baku calls them saboteurs and war criminals.
Three Azerbaijanis are held captive in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). Azerbaijani citizen Shahbaz Guliyev and Russian citizen Dilgam Askerov were sentenced to 22 years and life in prison, respectively, for killing a citizen of the NKR who was a minor, illegally crossing into Karabakh, and spying. Azerbaijani citizen Elnur Husseinzade is serving time for spying on the unrecognized republic.
Baku earlier urged Yerevan to exchange "all for all" captives.
Humanitarian steps have been discussed at Karabakh peace talks between Armenian and Azerbaijani officials.
te rm kl