Azerbaijani Citizen Voluntarily Surrenders to Armenian Authorities: New Details

On the morning of June 12, in the village of Areghuni, Gegharkunik Province, an Azerbaijani citizen, Elshan Rasul oglu Aliyev, born in 1994, appeared. As Sos Hovhannisyan, the administrative head of the Areghuni community in Gegharkunik Province, informed Armenpress, the Azerbaijani was first noticed by a local resident who serves as the guard for the summer camp in Areghuni.

“He was the one who escorted the Azerbaijani to the administrative office. Our conversation proceeded without a translator, as I have lived for many years in one of the Armenian-populated villages of the Azerbaijani region and have some proficiency in Azerbaijani. Our fellow villager, Nersik Petrosyan, who is more fluent in Azerbaijani, also participated in the discussion. The Azerbaijani did not possess any documents or weapons. He stated that he is Elshan Rasul oglu Aliyev, born in Kalmykia. His father is Azerbaijani and his mother is Ukrainian. He was just six years old when his parents separated. His Ukrainian mother abandoned him and his brother, leaving their upbringing to his father, who returned to Azerbaijan and placed the children in an orphanage.

After leaving the orphanage, Elshan led a vagrant life, undertaking hard and arduous work in various places, eventually ending up in the Gapan region as a shepherd. He lived in difficult conditions and decided to leave Azerbaijan. According to him, he studied the area extensively on a map and concluded that the nearest and most suitable location was Armenia, which is why he left his herd and crossed into Armenia. After hearing his story, I invited representatives from Armenia's National Security Service, to whom the Azerbaijani who crossed our border was handed over,” Sos Hovhannisyan reported.