Armenia spares no effort to achieve release of POWs held in Azerbaijan, says FM

The government of Armenia spares no effort to achieve the release of unlawfully held Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has said.

Mirzoyan was asked at a parliamentary committee hearing by opposition MP Agnessa Khamoyan about the matter. 

The FM reminded that in total over 100 POWs have been released so far.

“We can say that we continue to work in that direction,” Mirzoyan said. "And we are doing it not because you say so, but because it is our duty. We are convinced that we must not spare effort, and we spare no effort in that direction. It is another matter that there has been no success in this issue for quite some time now, who can deny that?”

Azerbaijan has officially acknowledged that it is holding 23 Armenian prisoners despite a post-war obligation to release all POWs and detainees.  16 of them face fabricated charges in ongoing mock trials.