Caucasus: 15 Armenian prisoners of war released by Azerbaijan

(Illustration) Soldiers of the Nagorno-Karabakh defense army, under Armenian supervision, in a truck towards Martakert, September 29, 2020. Narek Aleksanyan / AFP

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This Saturday, an agreement was reached for 15 Armenian prisoners of war to be released by Azerbaijan.

They arrived in the evening in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.

This was made possible through mediation by Europe and the United States.

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with our regional correspondent in Tbilisi,

Régis Genté

They arrived in Yerevan this Saturday evening, June 12, via Georgia, which played a role in the mediation between its two neighbors.

Fifteen prisoners released in exchange for the Armenian side handing over maps of the mined areas in Aghdam, one of the 7 districts over which Azerbaijan regained control after the "Second Nagorno-Karabakh war", which it won. last fall but which is still the cause of many tensions between the two countries, while a Russian interposition force has been deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh since the signing of the

"declaration of peace"

on November 9th.

To read also

: Nagorno-Karabakh: a humiliating defeat for the Armenian soldiers?

The idea of ​​an exchange of prisoners for maps of mined areas is at the heart of the so difficult negotiations between the belligerents.

Azerbaijan still detains dozens of Armenian prisoners of war while Armenia keeps its mining maps of the conflict zone secret, causing deaths on the Azeri side ... like in early June when two journalists and a local representative lost their lives in jumping on a mine in the

district of Kelbadjar surrendered to Azerbaijan.

The mediation was led by the Europeans, directly by Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, and by the Americans.

A mediation which perhaps augurs well for the return of the West to the peace process in Karabakh, which since the conflict at the end of 2020 has been completely dominated by Russia.

To read also

: The Russian army is deployed on two new sites in the south of Armenia

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  • Azerbaijan

  • Armenia

  • Nagorno-Karabakh