Azeri hostage allegedly unwilling to return home
An Azerbaijani citizen taken hostage on the contact
line with Armenian troops under unknown circumstances on December
28 has said he has no intention to return to Azerbaijan, Novosti
Armenii news agency claimed.
Eldar Taghiyev, who was interviewed by Armenia’s public TV channel, reportedly said that if the Armenian authorities refuse to keep him in the country, he might seek a transfer to a third country. "I want to let my family know that I am not coming back," Taghiyev told the Armenian broadcaster.
The Azerbaijani citizen noted further that he had himself requested a meeting with Armenian journalists to clarify the reasons for leaving his home country. Taghiyev claimed he could not live in Azerbaijan where he was unemployed and was not receiving social allowance. "I can’t die of starvation, can I?" he asked.
Taghiyev, 47, said that in the past, water was being supplied from Armenia to the western Tovuz district’s Alibayli village where he lived. The supplies were cut off after the war between the two South Caucasus republics erupted in the 1990s. Taghiyev told reporters that he used to earn a living by selling chicken and potatoes and could rely only on unstable income.
Taghiyev’s family believes he made the appearance and uttered such statements on Armenia’s public TV channel under pressure.
Elmar Taghiyev, the hostage’s son, said the family’s standing is not aggravating at all.
"My father spoke about being allegedly jobless in Azerbaijan, living in poverty in the countryside, and facing difficulty with finding water to be used for agricultural work. But he never worked in agriculture, and our home is located right beside the river bank, in other words, we have not been experiencing problems with water."
Taghiyev said his father cannot be unwilling to return to Azerbaijan. "He is a man with secondary education. And he can’t be using these expressions. We think that his remarks about not coming back and going to a third country were made under pressure."
Shahin Sayilov, the secretary of the Azerbaijan State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, also suggested that Taghiyev was likely to have been pressed to make the utterances.
"He is a hostage. It is not that hard to put a hostage on the air and prompt him to make statements defying his country," Sayilov said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Despite numerous rounds of negotiations, mediated by Russia, France and the United States through the OSCE Minsk Group, peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.*
Eldar Taghiyev, who was interviewed by Armenia’s public TV channel, reportedly said that if the Armenian authorities refuse to keep him in the country, he might seek a transfer to a third country. "I want to let my family know that I am not coming back," Taghiyev told the Armenian broadcaster.
The Azerbaijani citizen noted further that he had himself requested a meeting with Armenian journalists to clarify the reasons for leaving his home country. Taghiyev claimed he could not live in Azerbaijan where he was unemployed and was not receiving social allowance. "I can’t die of starvation, can I?" he asked.
Taghiyev, 47, said that in the past, water was being supplied from Armenia to the western Tovuz district’s Alibayli village where he lived. The supplies were cut off after the war between the two South Caucasus republics erupted in the 1990s. Taghiyev told reporters that he used to earn a living by selling chicken and potatoes and could rely only on unstable income.
Taghiyev’s family believes he made the appearance and uttered such statements on Armenia’s public TV channel under pressure.
Elmar Taghiyev, the hostage’s son, said the family’s standing is not aggravating at all.
"My father spoke about being allegedly jobless in Azerbaijan, living in poverty in the countryside, and facing difficulty with finding water to be used for agricultural work. But he never worked in agriculture, and our home is located right beside the river bank, in other words, we have not been experiencing problems with water."
Taghiyev said his father cannot be unwilling to return to Azerbaijan. "He is a man with secondary education. And he can’t be using these expressions. We think that his remarks about not coming back and going to a third country were made under pressure."
Shahin Sayilov, the secretary of the Azerbaijan State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, also suggested that Taghiyev was likely to have been pressed to make the utterances.
"He is a hostage. It is not that hard to put a hostage on the air and prompt him to make statements defying his country," Sayilov said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Despite numerous rounds of negotiations, mediated by Russia, France and the United States through the OSCE Minsk Group, peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.*
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