On the night of April 19 an emergency occurred in Vayots Dzor marz but the authorities have stayed silent about that till yesterday.
The emergency occurred in Khachik village of Vayk, in the result of which four Armenian young men – Vanik Nikolayi Chmboyan from Gavar, Artyom Andraniki Zohrabyan, Karen Jivani Torosyan and Aghasi Atomi Yenokyan from Noraduz village, were lost in the area and trespassed the borderline of Armenia-Azerbaijan and thus appeared in Nakhijevan. The sons of the three men from Gegharkunik showed in the picture are still kept as hostages in the Azerbaijani prisons. We tried to find out from the parents of the lost soldiers what incident occurred in the military base, which made them trespass the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. According to Andranik, the father Artyom Zohrabyan one of the soldiers of the mentioned military base is the brother of his son’s friend. The soldier called his brother and told him that he is being “persecuted” by other soldiers. The brother of the soldier gathered all his friends and they went to the base to find out who is hassling his brother. “They went to Khachik military base with four plus nine guys. In the beginning they pushed each other, argued but there was no weapon used,” tell the parents of the boys and adding that the commander of the base decided to shoot in the air to appease them. After the shots the boys moved to the cars in order to flee, however the bullet touched the tire of one of the cars. After that they all tried to run away. And the mentioned four boys were considered lost till April 28. “Nine of the civilians were arrested on the sport and have since been kept in custody in the regional capital Yeghegnadzor. Karen and the three other men fled the scene and were unaccounted for until the Azerbaijani military reported their capture ten days later,” tells Karen Torosyan’s father. “We have been searching them for 10 days in the mountains and forests,” the parents tell, who only yesterday were informed that their sons are in Azerbaijan. On April 28 the Azerbaijani side released information that it confirmed the attempt of the Armenian citizens to cross the border and that the hostages are with them. It is not yet clear how the Armenian young men crossed the border. The capture of the four Armenians was revealed five days after Armenia sent home yet another Azerbaijani soldier who deserted from his unit and the crossed Armenian-Azerbaijani border, claiming to have been systematically mistreated by his commanders. As always, the repatriation was arranged by the Red Cross. The representative of the Red Cross mentioned that they haven’t had any concrete conversation with their counterpart in Baku. Thus they cannot provide any information. According to our information the parents of the boys applied to the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and yesterday the President gave certain assignments to the governor of Vayots Dzor marz Vardges Matevosyan. We called the latter to find out what steps they are undertaking to bring the boys back. First, the governor got a bit angry at our questions, by reminding us that he is not a military commander. Therefore he doesn’t have any levers to bring the hostages back. “You are asking strange questions. They are young kids and we are all concerned to have them back as soon as possible. But I repeat that the law enforcers must be occupied with that issue.” The colonel of Vayk military base Tigran Parvanyan refused to answer any questions because hasn’t received any order from his superior to answer the questions of the journalists. “Write a letter to the Minister and if he allows I will answer. Please, try o understand me. That is the order,” said Parvanyan. The Azeri media’s reports that “the Azeri armed forces captured an Armenian subversive group” do not correspond to the truth, RA Defense Minister’s Spokesman, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan said. “Actually, four Armenian citizens – Vanik Chmboyan from Gavar, Artem Zohrabyan, Karen Torosyan and Aghasi Yenokyan from Noragyugh village – went to the village of Khachik to meet a friend. Coming back, they lost their way finding themselves in Nakhijevan,” he said. “Presently, all four are kept in the Azeri National Security Service cell in Azerbaijan. The Armenian side addressed to the International Red Cross Office in Baku for assistance to transfer the captives back to the Armenia,” colonel Shahsuvaryan said. Earlier, the Azeri Press Agency circulated information that “Armenian special forces planning a provocation were arrested in Azerbaijan.” Military authorities in Baku and Yerevan have made conflicting statements about the circumstances in which four Armenians crossed into Azerbaijan and were taken prisoner there earlier this month. News of their capture was first reported by Azerbaijani media on Monday and confirmed by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry the next day. A ministry spokesman, Eldar Sabiroglu, was quoted by the Day.az news service as saying that the four young men are Armenian army commandos who were sent to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave on a sabotage mission. According to the Press Service of the Defense Ministry, Azerbaijani Mass Media spread rumors saying that Armenian diversion group has been rendered harmless. The rumors don’t correspond to reality. In reality they were RA citizens Vanik Nikolay Zmboyan (Gavar), Artyom Andranik Zohrabyan (Noratus), Karen Jivan Torosyan (Noratus), and Aghasy Atom Yenokyan (Noratus), who went to a military camp located in village Khachik to visit their friend, a serviceman. On their way back they probably lost their way and crossed the border in Nakhijevan. According to the data possessed by Armenian side the before mentioned citizens are in Azerbaijani Security Service, and their health is in a normal condition. Armenian side appealed to the Red Cross International Office to organize the return of these people, with the corresponding office in Baku.