Armenian NSS chief visits Baku

Andranik Simonyan, director of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), recently travelled to Baku
hraparak.am

Armenia’s Hraparak newspaper has published new details regarding a visit to Baku. According to the report, Andranik Simonyan, director of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), recently travelled to Baku and handed over a list of 10 Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan.

Sources say Armenia is seeking the repatriation of these individuals as part of efforts to normalise bilateral relations.

The list includes Erik Ghazaryan, Levon Balayan, Davit Alaverdyan, Melikset Pashayan, Garik Martirosyan, Vasili Beglaryan, Ludvig Mkrtchyan, Alyosha Khosrovyan, Gurgen Stepanyan, and Madat Babayan.

The newspaper notes that Simonyan did not address the release or repatriation of eight members of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) military-political leadership currently on trial in Baku.

In exchange for the release of these 10 individuals, Azerbaijan reportedly presented a counter-list and conditions. It is understood that two Syrian citizens, Muhrab Muhammad al-Shkheri and Youssef Alabet al-Haji, are included. They reportedly participated as mercenary fighters in the 2020 conflict and were sentenced to life imprisonment in Armenia in 2021.

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