The US State Department's calls to set free the Azeri raiders prosecuted in Nagorno-Karabakh will receive no response, such an opinion was expressed by the Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute Sergey Minasyan, answering the question of Arminfo correspondent during press conference in Yerevan.
"Since there have been no direct messages addressed to the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, there will be no response. Those people are not ordinary civilians or servicemen, they have committed a brutal crime far from war sites in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and must be punished according to the law of that country," Minasyan said.
He said that the Azeris have distorted Nuland's words about the raiders. "In Yerevan she was no longer able to change the statements she had made in Baku but she did not specify who her call was addressed to. So, there will be no response," Minasyan said.
On Feb 23 Spokesperson of the US State Department Jen Psaki called on Armenia to give back the Azeri raiders.
The Nagorno-Karabakh authorities consider these calls unacceptable. Spokesman of the NKR President David Babayan said that Guliyev and Askerov have committed terrorist acts in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. "Their trial was transparent and open for mass media and NGOs. So, we must respect the court's verdict," Babayan said.
To recall, the Stepanakert General Court sentenced Askerov and Gulyev to life imprisonment and 20 years in prison for illegal crossing of the state border and committing sabotage attacks and vicious murders, respectively.