Religious Leaders Called for Release of PoWs

The religious leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia have appealed to release civilians kept as prisoners of war, as well as called on the sides to prevent vandalism against churches and mosques. As Armenpress informed, referring to RIA Novosti, the Russian Patriarch Kirill made this statement after the negotiations with the Armenian Catholicoc Garegin B and the religious leader of Azerbaijan, the head of the Department of Muslims of the Caucasus, Shaykh al-Islām Alahshukyur Pashazadeh.“People, including innocent citizens suffer in the result of certain actions who are in captivity on both sides, as well as people who never took part in the military actions and are currently held as prisoners of war. There is no need to apply the rules of military actions and keeping prisoners of war to people who are not such,” Patriarch Kirill said.“There are cathedrals and mosques in the area of the conflict. It is important to take proper care of them to rule out expressions of vandalism and not to allow anyone to manipulate religious feelings, escalating the conflict which must be alleviated,” Patriarch Kirill said.