Azernews.Az

An Armenian family that crossed over to Azerbaijan earlier this month currently resides in a military unit of the Defense Ministry, the Baku-based Lider TV channel reported.
Yegishe Gevorkyan, the head of the family, has said they had escaped Armenia due to the deplorable living conditions at home.
"We lived in bitter conditions and faced poverty. 95 percent of the population in Armenia face these conditions," Gevorkyan said, adding that the situation in the country is detreriorating by the day, which is evident from unfolding public protests.
Gevorkyan said further that one of the reasons for their escape is widespread irregularities seen during Armenia’s latest parliamentary elections held in 2009.
"Voters supporting the opposition were deprived of the right to vote. When we came to the polling station we were told that our name wasn’t on the list, which means we cannot cast our ballots. We approached several instances, but to no avail. Moreover, on that day an opposition hopeful and his supporters were brutally beaten. How could we live in those conditions?"
Recalling the day his family crossed the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, Gevorkyan said he simply bade farewell to his relatives, got into the car with his family members and headed toward the Azerbaijani border.
"When we drove through the border controls, our soldiers opened fire from the back though children were in the car. On the Azerbaijani side, however, they saw that there were kids and that we had raised a white flag, and didn’t shoot."
Gevorkyan, 52, entered the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan from the Yeraskh region on January 10, driving a car with his wife and three small children. The Armenian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement that Armenian servicemen did not shoot because children were in the vehicle but Azerbaijani soldiers allegedly opened fire.
The Armenian ministry alleges that Gevorkyan is suspected of murder. Investigators have concluded that he had committed a burglary resulting in someone’s death. Gevorkyan was previously said to have stood trial eight times on charges of banditry, stealing cars and other crimes.
Gevorkyan and his wife, Ruzanna Mardanyan, stressed that they were being treated humanely and their children were being provided with care in Azerbaijan.
"Children feel great here," Mardanyan said. "They have undergone a medical examination and have been provided with clothes and everything else they need. I cook different meals for them every day."
Lider TV said further that military men are among Armenian citizens who have crossed over to the Azerbaijani side so far due to unbearable living conditions in their home country. The televised footage showed several of the servicemen, who refused to serve in the Armenian military, visiting with Gevorkyans and having a meal together.
Lider also reported that Azerbaijani government agencies are scrutinizing the cases of the Armenian servicemen and civilians who have sought refuge in Azerbaijan, and are negotiating to arrange their transfer to a third country.
Meanwhile, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which works to facilitate the handover of POWs, called on six Armenian military men held captives in Azerbaijan. According to Gulnaz Guliyeva, the spokeswoman for the ICRC’s representation in Azerbaijan, a monitoring of the prisoners’ conditions of detention was held and one-on-one conversations conducted with them last Friday. The captives did not send letters to their families and only passed on their greetings.
Three of the Armenian servicemen crossed over to Azerbaijan in February 2009, while two others came last May and one came last July. They explained their decision with their country’s military being unattended and with grave conditions, saying they could not even find bread to eat.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for two decades. Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory since the early 1990s. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but efforts by international mediators have been largely fruitless so far, and sporadic clashes on the frontline continue.*