During a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev confessed to holding a number of Armenians prisoners-of-war for political purposes.

Arman Tatoyan, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia released the translated conversation that took place during Erdogan’s visit to the occupied territories of Artsakh, is an irrefutable evidence that the Azerbaijani authorities:

1) illegally keep all Armenian captives as hostages for use in political bargaining;

2) commit human trafficking criminally punishable act;

3) continuously mislead the international community claiming that the captives are terrorists or saboteurs;

4) organize false criminal proceedings against captives.

This discussion between the Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan certifies that the Armenian captives are being illegally held in Azerbaijan for exchange in parts with some mined maps.

The Office of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender translated the video into Russian and English and analyzed it.

It will be sent by an official letter of the Human Rights Defender to the specialized UN bodies, OSCE, CE and other international structures.