Russia to defend its citizen under Armenian captivity
By Mushvig Mehdiyev
Release of Azerbaijani hostages in Armenia will be discussed in the upcoming diplomatic talks between Moscow and Yerevan.
A recent statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry hinted to northern giant's overt plans in regard to release of an ethnic Azerbaijani captive, who holds Russian citizenship.
Alexander Lukashevich, Head of Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department, said Russia will discuss Dilgam Asgarov's release with its Armenian colleagues. Hence, Russia is the second co-chair country of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Minsk Group after the U.S. following the issue of Armenia’s illegal caption of an Azerbaijani citizen.
The move came after a recent call by Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, for taking humanitarian steps towards releasing of two Azerbaijani civilians under Armenian captivity.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Moscow earlier this January that Russia would sit for talks with Armenia to talk over Asgarov's fate.
Armenian special forces captured three Azerbaijani civilians -- Hasan Hasanov, Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov in the Shaplar village of the occupied Kalbajar region on July 11, 2014, while they were visiting the graves of their relatives.
Hasanov was killed brutally. Dilgam Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Shahbaz Guliyev to 22 years in prison following a show trial in the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh republic". Asgarov is an ethnic Azerbaijan holding Russian citizenship.
Armenian authorities accused Dilgam Asgarov of alleged espionage, unauthorized border trespass, kidnapping and violence against a minor motivated by ethnic hatred. Armenia seized an opportunity to project a negative image of Azerbaijan for allegedly presenting a civil man as a saboteur.
Earlier, Nuland expressed serious concerns of the U.S. over bad treatment of Azerbaijani prisoners by their Armenian captors. She indirectly called on Armenia to put aside its inhuman treatment of captives.
Nuland's statement sparked criticism in Armenia, who rejected all international calls to immediate release the Azerbaijani civilians.
Now, Russia is entering the field with an open intention to put "neighborly" pressure on Armenia, relying on two major factors: captive Askerov's Russian citizenship and the Siberian land's widespread influence on its tiny southern neighbor.
Moscow has long before started to discuss covertly Asgerov's release with Armenia, some Armenian experts believe, insisting that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair country sees no solid reason behind Armenia's capture of civilian Azerbaijanis.
Armenia is still turning down international calls for releasing Asgarov and Guliyev. The British government has officially announced its refusal to recognize the show court charging the Azerbaijani hostages. But, the issue has come to a deadlock due to Armenia's preference to adopt an aggressive stance towards the captives.
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