Mirzoyan instead touted “peace” which he said was established between Armenia and Azerbaijan during an August summit in Washington hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Though the painful humanitarian consequences of the conflict are still to be resolved and the wounds of the distant and recent past linger on, we have chosen the difficult path of reconciliation,” he said in a speech. “This is indeed a difficult endeavor with 19 Armenian detainees still being held in Baku, and need for clarification of the fates of missing persons and cases of enforced disappearances, and amid dissemination of distorted historical narratives.”
“Nevertheless, Armenia remains firmly committed to pursuing this path to its future-oriented conclusion with the understanding that further institutionalization of peace will foster a more conducive environment for addressing the consequences of the conflict,” added Mirzoyan.
Official Yerevan thus continued its effective silence on lengthy prison sentences given this month to eight former Karabakh Armenian leaders captured by Azerbaijan in 2023. Five of them were sentenced to life imprisonment while the three others received 20-year jail sentences at the end of what Armenian lawyers and human rights activists see as sham trials. Amnesty International likewise described last week the jail sentences against them and eight other Karabakh Armenians as a “travesty.”
The Armenian government has still not officially commented on the sentences, stoking opposition allegations about its complicity in the continuing captivity of these and three other Armenians held in Azerbaijan. The government had waited for weeks before criticizing the mock trials” last year.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed in January 2025 that an explicit condemnation would only harm the defendants. His critics countered that he is simply afraid of angering Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as part of his appeasement policy which they say will not lead to a lasting peace.
Earlier this month, Aliyev rejected calls for the release of the former Karabakh leaders, comparing them to Nazi Germany’s leaders. He said that their trials were “absolutely transparent.”