YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Committee of Investigations of Armenia has released the video from the questioning of an Azerbaijani serviceman who was detained as a prisoner of war by the Artsakh military.

The Azerbaijani POW, Emin Bakhshaliyev, said that he feels fine and has no complaints from the conditions of his detention. He said he is given meals three times a day. “I am treated normally here, there is no violence or torture. I had been wounded in my left leg, every day my wound is being treated and the dressing is replaced,” he said.

Bakhshaliyev said that Azerbaijan declared mobilization either on September 3 or 5. “In the summer of this year, joint large-scale military exercises were held, after which a military formation of the Turkish Armed Forces stayed in Azerbaijan. I was also informed that at the time of starting the war servicemen from Pakistan were to help us. The military specialists who arrived from Turkey held combat readiness trainings with our platoon for 3-5 days, the purpose of which was to obtain mountainous terrain combat skills. The military officers who came from Turkey didn’t train only us, I also happened to see that these Turkish military officers were training other units as well. These combat readiness trainings were held for a total of 10-15 days with the entire personnel of our military base. When the Turks visited our military base they told us to get ready for combat readiness trainings in the mountains. We held combat readiness trainings in the mountains with different units, and we were told to get ready for war, because soon military actions would start, that we have to launch an attack on our only enemy, at the direction of the Armenian positions,” the Azerbaijani serviceman said.

Bakhshaliyev said the Turkish officers were wearing Turkish military uniforms, but without rank shoulder marks. “We addressed them neither by their names nor surnames. We simply addressed them as commander,” he said.

He said that on September 20-21, 2020 they left their military base with their battalion and moved towards Gyulistan on board Kamaz and Ural vehicles. “My direct superior commander, Ahmad Hanifayev, told us that the enemy, meaning the Armenian positions, are empty, there will be 5 or 7 servicemen, and ordered us to capture and take positions in the Armenians’ combat positions. The order was – the sooner we capture the better,” Bakhshaliyev said.

Bakhshaliyev said Azerbaijan bought missile systems and UAVs from Israel and Turkey. “The UAVs were controlled from the rear, they were either Turkish or Israeli produced, I didn’t see who exactly controlled them, but we didn’t have anything to do with their control,” he said.

He said the Azeri military has deployed missile-artillery systems in the yards of residential homes behind dense trees. Bakhshaliyev said that despite the fact that civilians are living in those homes, the Azeri military fired the systems during the military actions.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan