Nalbandian Rebuffs Calls for Release of Azeri Commandos

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian at a press conference in Yerevan. Jan. 26, 2015. (Photo: Photolure)

YEREVAN—Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has dismissed reports that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have called for the return of two Azeri commandos jailed in Artsakh.

“The crimes committed by the two Azeri saboteurs, including the kidnapping and brutal killing of a teenager, have been revealed, documented and proven,” Nalbandian said at the National Assembly.

“The international community is well aware of how Azerbaijan welcomes and glorifies murderers, as it happened in the case of Safarov and others. Naturally, the international community speaks about humanism. But what humanism can one speak about in the case of Azerbaijan?” Nalbanian said.

He reminded that a number of Armenian nationals were humiliated and killed in Azerbaijan. He further recalled Baku’s refusal to accept the calls of the international organization, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the OSCE and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to create conditions for retrieving the bodies of the pilots of the downed helicopter.

“I do not even speak about how ‘the great humanists’ in Baku are persecuting their own citizens every day, especially the proponents of peace, tolerance, reconciliation and humanism,” Nalbandian added.

“All this comes to prove that Azerbaijan has its unique perception of humanism, and uses it to deepen hatred and xenophobia,” the Foreign Minister stated.