13:28,

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. Ayman Aqil, head of the Maat Foundation, says Azerbaijan continues violating human rights and its commitments by holding the Armenian prisoners of war still in custody after the end of the recent Nagorno Karabakh war. He notes that the human rights violations by Azerbaijan during the recent war have been accompanied by the support of Turkey.

“We have called on Azerbaijan to return the captives, the prisoners of war, however, that country still continues violating human rights, fundamental freedoms, as well as the agreement which was reached during the stop of the war. I want to state that when we made that call, the Azerbaijani embassy in Cairo contacted us, stating that they have no Armenian prisoners of war, but we responded that the POWs exist and you continue violating the human rights”, the head of the Maat Foundation told Armenpress.

According to him, it’s possible to talk about peace in the region only when Turkey stops assisting Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan stops violating human rights.

Asked that 106 years after the Armenian Genocide, Turkey still remains unpunished, whether this is the reason that genocides are taking place in the 21st century, Ayman Aqil said “we have what we have, and the reason of it is that the international community still remains silent”.

“A key mission for us is to be able to use all the international levers, the UN, as well as the UN Security Council, for preventing such events. We have presented a report where we show the violations made by Turkey, in particular that it provided weapons, mercenaries and other resources to the Azerbaijani side”, he said.

Interview by Norayr Shoghikyan

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan