Armenian Political Prisoner's Son Urges EU to Make Prisoners' Release a Condition for Ties With Azerbaijan

The son of an Armenian political prisoner held in Azerbaijan urged the European Union to turn its repeated expressions of support into concrete action, saying European institutions have failed to exert enough pressure on Baku to secure the release of Armenian detainees.

Speaking before lawmakers and human rights advocates at the European Parliament, Armen Ishkhanyan, whose father, former Artsakh National Assembly Speaker David Ishkhanyan, has been imprisoned in Azerbaijan since October 2023, said there is a growing disconnect between the European Parliament's strong stance and the policies pursued by the EU's executive bodies.

"Unfortunately, we see that the European Parliament's position is not being clearly reflected in the European Union's overall policy, and we do not see sufficient pressure being placed on Azerbaijan by the EU's executive institutions," Ishkhanyan said.

The discussion, titled "Armenian Prisoners in Azerbaijan and the Imperative of EU Engagement," brought together members of the European Parliament, legal experts and human rights advocates, all of whom argued that the release of Armenian prisoners should become a central priority in the EU's relationship with Azerbaijan.

The event was hosted by Cypriot Member of the European Parliament Kostas Mavrides of the Socialists and Democrats Group and Slovak MEP Miriam Lexmann, the European Parliament's standing rapporteur on Armenia and a member of the European People's Party, with support from the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy.

Speaking on behalf of his family, Ishkhanyan thanked the organizers for keeping the issue on the European agenda and said he hoped the conference would help draw greater international attention to Armenians being held in Azerbaijani custody.

He said his father and the other former Artsakh officials now imprisoned in Baku had defended what they believed was the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination. During those same years, he noted, the European Parliament adopted resolutions recognizing self-determination as a fundamental right and expressing support for the people of Artsakh.

According to Ishkhanyan, it is difficult to accept that those who once participated in internationally recognized peace efforts are now facing criminal prosecution.

He also noted that the release of prisoners has historically been among the first confidence-building measures in peace agreements around the world, while Azerbaijan has refused to release Armenian detainees despite ongoing peace negotiations.

Recalling the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, Ishkhanyan said his family fled to Armenia after Azerbaijan's military offensive, while his father remained behind to help organize the evacuation of civilians before planning to leave himself.

Instead, he and other senior Artsakh officials were detained by Azerbaijani authorities on Oct. 3, 2023.

The family spent 10 days without any information about his whereabouts.

"My mother, my sister, my brother, and my father's grandchildren are all waiting for him," Ishkhanyan said. "A few days ago, it was my daughter's birthday. When we asked her what gift she wanted, she said she wanted her grandfather to come home."

Armenian human rights lawyer Siranush Sahakyan argued that Azerbaijan cannot justify the prosecutions by pointing to Nagorno-Karabakh's lack of international recognition.

She said the U.N. Security Council never declared Nagorno-Karabakh's declaration of independence invalid, nor did it call on countries to reject it. Instead, the territory's status remained the subject of negotiations led by the OSCE Minsk Group for decades.

"For decades, the status of Nagorno-Karabakh remained the subject of negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group," Sahakyan said. "Representatives of the Minsk Group held meetings with Nagorno-Karabakh officials, including some of the individuals now imprisoned in Baku. At the time, those contacts were not considered illegal or criminal but were viewed as part of an internationally accepted peace process."

Sahakyan said the proceedings in Baku are political trials aimed at reshaping the historical narrative of the conflict, shifting responsibility onto displaced Armenians and criminalizing the former political leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Simon Papuashvili, Eastern Europe and South Caucasus program director at the International Partnership for Human Rights, said the European Union must go beyond adopting resolutions and make the release of Armenian prisoners a condition of its engagement with Azerbaijan.

He called on the EU to demand unrestricted access for independent humanitarian organizations, regular contact between detainees and their families, independent medical examinations, confidential meetings with lawyers and full access to legal documents in languages defendants understand.

Papuashvili also urged Brussels to establish clear deadlines for Azerbaijan and warned that failure to comply should carry political consequences, including sanctions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against officials linked to torture, arbitrary detention and serious judicial abuses.

"The release of Armenian prisoners is not a reward or concession to Armenia," Papuashvili said. "It is an obligation under international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and the commitments the parties themselves have undertaken."

Joel Veldkamp, director of public advocacy at Christian Solidarity International, said every Armenian held in Azerbaijan represents a family waiting for a loved one to return.

He warned that the consequences extend beyond individual cases.

According to Veldkamp, failing to insist on the prisoners' release risks normalizing the use of military force to settle conflicts and weakening international support for the principle of self-determination.

He also criticized the European Union for expanding ties with both Armenia and Azerbaijan while placing few meaningful conditions on Baku.

Veldkamp noted that Azerbaijan has yet to sign a final peace agreement with Armenia and continues to refer to the Republic of Armenia as "Western Azerbaijan."

"If Europe truly wants to strengthen Armenia, one of its first steps should be decisive action to secure the release of the Armenian hostages held in Baku," he said.

Returning to his father's case, Ishkhanyan said David Ishkhanyan believes the trials are aimed not only at former Artsakh officials but at Armenia itself.

According to him, the detainees are being used as political leverage against Armenia, casting doubt on Azerbaijan's stated commitment to achieving lasting peace.

Lexmann acknowledged that while the European Union has expanded its partnership with Armenia through economic support and closer integration with European markets, it has not applied comparable pressure on Azerbaijan because of Europe's energy interests.

She said the EU should use both its political influence and its energy partnership with Azerbaijan to demand the immediate release of Armenian prisoners while maintaining sustained pressure to prevent further violations of international law.

During the discussion, several participants questioned why the European Commission has not acted more forcefully despite repeated European Parliament resolutions calling for stronger measures against Azerbaijan.

Others expressed concern that the EU continues to describe Azerbaijan as a reliable partner despite its human rights record.

Mavrides said that after 15 years in the European Parliament, he believed diplomatic language alone was no longer enough to address the realities of the EU's foreign policy.

Papuashvili concluded by arguing that Europe's continued dependence on Azerbaijani fossil fuels is both strategically unnecessary and damaging to the European Union's credibility as a defender of human rights and the rule of law.

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