Azerbaijan hands over 10 more Armenian detainees

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan handed over 10 more captive soldiers to Armenia upon the initiative of the EU, Baku's State Security Service said on Sunday.

In a statement, the agency said the soldiers were detained while attempting a provocation in the Kalbajar border region on Nov. 16.

Citing a recent trilateral meeting in Brussels on Tuesday initiated by European Council President Charles Michel with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the statement further said that the detainees were handed over "a manifestation of its commitment to the principles of humanism" and "through the mediation of the European Union."

Baku and Yerevan were involved in a 44-day conflict on Karabakh -- a region that lies within Azerbaijan but was under the occupation of Armenia -- last year, which ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire on Nov. 10, 2020.

During the faceoff, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for nearly three decades. The cease-fire is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

The leaders of the three countries later agreed to develop economic ties and infrastructure for the benefit of the entire Caucasus region.