STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON JEN PSAKI HOLDS STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR NEWS BRIEFING
CQ Transcriptions, USA
Feb 23 2015
[parts irrelevant to Armenia are omitted]
Go ahead (inaudible).
QUESTION: Two questions on different topics.
The first one is authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have refused to
consider the release of two Azerbaijani nationals, Dilgam Askerov and
Shahbaz Quilyev who were convicted last year on charges that include
the murder of a teenager.
But during her recent visit to Bakula (ph), Assistant Secretary Nuland
urged relevant authorities to make a humanitarian gesture concerning
their case.
PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: Can you elaborate on what the — the gesture would be that
the U.S. is seeking and what would justify the move?
PSAKI: Well we’ve — we’ve previously advocated through Ambassador
Warlick and others the release of these two prisoners to the government
of Azerbaijan. We — she also urged relevant authorities to return
the two prisoners to the government of Azerbaijan.
The sides have generally found a way in the past to return prisoners
as a humanitarian gesture, and such humanitarian gestures have been
shown to reduce tensions and build trust between the sides, so that’s
what she was referring to.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Disclaimer: This article was contributed and translated into English by Emil Lazarian. While we strive for quality, the views and accuracy of the content remain the responsibility of the contributor. Please verify all facts independently before reposting or citing.
Direct link to this article: https://www.armenianclub.com/2015/02/24/state-dept-spokesperson-psaki-holds-state-dept-regular-news-briefi-2/
