Former State Minister of Artsakh, Artak Beglaryan, wrote on Facebook that a list circulating online as that of prisoners is actually taken from an open letter by American evangelical pastor Joel Tenney and refers to people missing after a fuel depot explosion.
“This list contains the names of those missing as a result of the explosion, passed to Tenney by their relatives. Some families have evidence suggesting that certain individuals may be held captive in Azerbaijan, and they have presented these proofs to Armenia’s state authorities.
Therefore, it is essential for state bodies to properly investigate the fate of these missing persons, taking into account the available evidence. Every prisoner must be returned, and the fate of every missing person clarified.
At the same time, it is important to specify that the confirmed list of prisoners is different — which I published yesterday to avoid confusion. But this does not mean that there cannot be more Armenian captives in Azerbaijan; there is substantial evidence regarding about 80 such individuals, though Azerbaijan has not confirmed their captivity,” Beglaryan wrote.
In another post, he published the names and statuses of 23 Armenians whose captivity has been officially confirmed by Azerbaijan, noting that this is the list under discussion in efforts to secure their release.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced in Washington that he would support the release of 23 Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijani prisons. He made this statement during a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House. Azerbaijan has officially confirmed holding 23 Armenian captives.
