Azerbaijani citizen allegedly crosses over Armenian border seeking work, shelter

An Azerbaijani citizen has allegedly crossed the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. So far, this is still only conjecture, as nothing has been officially confirmed.

Armenian media sources reported the story as told by residents of the border border village of Areguni in the Gegharkunik region, who discovered the foreigner. The head of the rural community said that the 26-year-old man “asked our residents to give him housing and work.”

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What we know now

The individual has already been picked up by the National Security Service.

However, before they found him, the offender managed to tell local residents some facts from his life. He says that he is a shepherd, was unhappy that he had not gotten paid, and late in the evening yesterday, that is, June 11, decided to cross the border.

The man also said that his mother is Ukrainian and his father is Azerbaijani. His parents divorced early, his mother returned to her homeland, and his father died, so he grew up in an orphanage.

The head of rural community of Areguni, Sos Hovhannisyan, said that the young man was in civilian clothes.

The National Security Service has not yet commented on the incident.

Other similar incidents

There are two other Azerbaijanis, Dilgam Askerov and Shahbaz Guliyev, who earlier crossed the frontline with Nagorno-Karabakh. 

In September 2019, Azerbaijan reached out to Armenia to request to exchange Askerov and Guliyev for Karen and Araik Ghazaryan, who are prisoners in Azerbaijan.

However, the exchange did not take place, since the official stories about how the prisoners were captured differ greatly in Baku and Yerevan.

In Azerbaijan, it is believed that Askerov and Guliyev traveled to the territory controlled by Armenia to visit the graves of their ancestors. But in Nagorno-Karabakh, they were tried on charges of murder, espionage and kidnapping. One was sentenced to life imprisonment, the other – to 22 years in prison. 

And on the other side, Karen Ghazaryan (sentenced to 20 years in prison in Azerbaijan) is considered a saboteur in Azerbaijan, but is called “mentally ill” in Armenia.

As for the young soldier Araik Ghazaryan, the Azerbaijani side says that he escaped from the military due to inhuman treatment, while Armenia believes that he just got lost.