Armenia swaps two Syrian mercenaries for four Armenians held in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has released four Armenian captives, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Wednesday.

“Gevorg Sujyan, Davit Davtyan, Vigen Euljekjyan and Vagif Khachatryan were handed over on the Hakari bridge and are now in Armenia. I will provide more information later,” he wrote on Facebook.

The Hakari bridge is the border checkpoint on what was the Lachin corridor and is the only functioning passage from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Gevorg Sujyan and Davit Davtyan, humanitarian activists, were captured in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 after the ceasefire that ended the 44-day war. In 2021, they were sentenced to 15 years in prison by an Azerbaijani court on charges including illegal possession of weapons, espionage, creation of an illegal armed formation, and illegal crossing of Azerbaijan’s state border.

Vigen Euljekjian, a Lebanese-Armenian citizen, was detained under similar circumstances. His case drew attention due to his deteriorating health while in Azerbaijani custody. In August, his wife, Linda Euljekjyan, appealed to Azerbaijan’s First Lady and Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, pleading to release her husband.

Vagif Khachatryan, 70, was detained by Azerbaijani police in July 2023 while being transported from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for medical treatment. He was accused of committing war crimes during the 1990s conflict in Karabakh, allegations he has denied. Last month, Armenian officials reported that Khachatryan had been hospitalized with a critical heart condition.

There was no immediate comment from Azerbaijani authorities on the release. Twenty Armenians remain in Azerbaijani captivity, including former senior Karabakh officials. Some of them are serving jail time and some are still on trial.

In a parallel development, Armenia’s justice ministry reported on Wednesday that Yerevan has released Yousef Alaabet al-Haji and Muhhrab Muhammad al-Shkherin, two Syrian mercenaries who fought on the Azerbaijani side in 2020, and handed them over to Turkey. Both were serving life terms in an Armenian prison.