Mirzoyan says third-country efforts to free Armenian detainees failed

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has stated that efforts to secure the release of Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan remain a permanent item on the diplomatic agenda, and that the path toward their release lies through dialogue with Azerbaijan.

He also noted that efforts involving third countries have failed to produce results. “We have appealed to them, but it has not worked. I do not want to name those countries because we will continue working with them. We have not been able to achieve results through third countries,” he said, according to Panorama.am.

Lilit Galstyan, a lawmaker from the opposition Armenia faction, responded: “Are we not entitled to conclude that Armenia has found itself in diplomatic isolation if everyone has told you to ‘stay away from us,’ while you were just claiming that peace has already become an established reality?”

Mirzoyan clarified that it was not Armenia that had been told to stay away, but rather third countries that had been told to “stay out of it.”

“We have a path forward, and we are working in that direction. That path runs directly through our dialogue with Azerbaijan,” the minister said.

He added that he does not like discussing the issue repeatedly because it is sensitive and ultimately comes down to whether there is a result.

“You can talk about it as much as you want, but what good are your efforts if they do not produce results? And the result is very specific and measurable: whether a person being held is released or not,” Mirzoyan said.