Question: Today, we learnt about the return of the citizen of Azerbaijan and the repatriation of our citizen, Zaven Karapetyan. Was this an exchange undertaken within the framework of “all for all” principle or is this a different process?

Answer: This process is not an implementation of “all for all” principle. Here, we are not talking about an exchange, as Armenia has stated from the very beginning that it is returning Elvin Arif Oğlı Ibrahimov, who had illegally crossed the state border of the Republic of Armenia on March 16 of this year, to Azerbaijan, without any preconditions based on humanitarian considerations. This process was undertaken through close cooperation with the ICRC, in particularly the Organization’s mission in Armenia. Ibrahimov did not commit heavy crimes, hence the individual approach on humanitarian principles was applicable to him.

We also took note of the decision of Azerbaijan to release Zaven Karapetyan, citizen of Armenia who appeared in the territory of Azerbaijan under unknown circumstances on June 20, 2017, and together with the ICRC organized his repatriation.

The Foreign Ministry of Armenia has always focused on the issue of Armenia’s citizens being detained in the territory of Azerbaijan and has raised that issue on numerous occasions within different formats and meetings, including most recently in Geneva.

We are happy about the release and repatriation of our citizen.