Baku, Azerbaijan, April 13
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
Armenia must return the Azerbaijani lands, Arsen Baghdasaryan, a member of the Armenian sabotage and intelligence group, said at the trial in the Ganja city's Court of Heinous Crimes, Kepez TV regional channel reported.
Bagdasaryan, a professional military man, was captured by Azerbaijani servicemen, as he crossed the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in the direction of Aghdam district on Dec. 26, 2014.
Speaking in the courtroom through an interpreter, Bagdasaryan did not deny the charges against him, and appealed to the Armenian government demanding to withdraw from Azerbaijani lands.
The Azerbaijani army's soldiers who detained Bagdasaryan in the Zangishaly village of Aghdam district were present in the court room as well.
"Azerbaijanis and Armenians had good relations for many years," Bagdasaryan said. "Armenia should withdraw from the Azerbaijani lands. Azerbaijan doesn't want war, it demands the return of its own lands and I want to appeal to Armenian soldiers and say that they should withdraw from Azerbaijani lands."
Bagdasaryan, in presence of his lawyer, admitted in the court that he was treated well in detention, having been provided with food and clothes. He insisted it was his personal opinion, as he wasn't speaking upon someone's order.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.