Azerbaijan summons EU envoy in row over treatment of Karabakh Armenians

By Nailia Bagirova

BAKU, May 1 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan summoned the EU’s ambassador on Friday to protest against a European Parliament resolution condemning Baku’s detention of Armenian prisoners of war and backing ​the rights of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The resolution denounced what ‌it called Azerbaijan’s “unjust detention” of Armenian prisoners of war, detainees and hostages” and demanded their immediate release. It also reiterated the European Union’s support for the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and called for accountability for the destruction of their cultural ‌and ​religious heritage.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the resolution ⁠as “unfounded and biased”, saying Karabakh ⁠Armenians had left the region voluntarily. It said those described by the EU as prisoners of war had committed serious crimes, including war crimes.

Ethnic Armenians in Karabakh, an internationally recognised part of ​Azerbaijan, broke away from Baku’s control as the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought two wars over the mountainous ⁠territory before Baku took it back ⁠in 2023 and its entire ethnic Armenian population of ​around 100,000 people fled to neighbouring Armenia.

Karabakh officials captured at that time ​were placed on trial in Baku in January 2025, accused ‌of a battery of charges including war crimes. International human rights groups have raised concerns about the fairness of the trial.

In February, Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian-born billionaire banker who served as a senior official ⁠in Nagorno-Karabakh, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

BAKU COMPLAINS OF EU ‘SMEAR CAMPAIGN’

In a further sign of fury at the European Parliament’s resolution, Azerbaijan’s parliament ⁠said it was ‌severing ties with the assembly, which it accused ⁠of conducting a “smear campaign” against Baku.

“This organisation not only ​hinders ‌the development of relations between Azerbaijan and the ​European Union, but ⁠also opposes measures aimed at establishing long-term peace and stability in our region,” the parliament said in a statement.

“By encouraging revanchist forces, it is attempting to turn our region into a hotbed of conflict once again,” it said.

(Reporting by Nailia BagirovaWriting by Maxim RodionovEditing by Mark Trevelyan ​and Gareth Jones)