YEREVAN, (A.W.)— On June 22, Armenian Police released a statement regarding Zaven Karapetyan, who was captured by Azerbaijani forces. The police provided the man’s personal information and confirmed his Armenian citizenship.
On June 21, the Artsakh Defense Ministry dismissed the news of a captured Armenian serviceman that was reported by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. Earlier that day, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry published a video of what they claimed to be an Armenian soldier who was captured following an attack on Azerbaijani positions. Azerbaijani media were quick to share and spread the news.
The video showed an interrogation of a disheveled man, speaking Armenian. The man in the video claimed that his name was Zaven Karapetyan, born on Nov. 16, 1974, in the village of Dovegh in Armenia’s Noyemberyan district. He added that he currently resides in Dovegh.
The statement released by Armenian law enforcement officials said that Karapetyan was in fact born on Nov. 16, 1974, in Nor Kharberd village of the Ararat province. He is currently registered at a nursing home in Vanadzor and is known to have mental health issues.
In 1978, Karapetyan was admitted into an orphanage in the town of Gavar, but then left in 1982 for auxiliary school in Sovetashen. In 1994, he moved to Vanadzor to live in a home provided by the Charles Aznavour Foundation with a former schoolmate. According to the statement, he lived for four years, after which he was moved to another home on property of the “Armenia” Spa in Vanadzor, where he lived alone.
Karapetyan was registered in a nursing home in Vanadzor in 2004 and received a passport the same year. After his passport expired, he never applied for a new one.
Karapetyan has never served in the Armenian Armed Forces because of his mental health issues and was exempt from military service by Armenia’s Defense Ministry on Dec. 12, 1993.
In recent years, Karapetyan has been known to wander from place to place without a permanent residence. According to the statement, he engaged in cattle breeding to earn a living and has always avoided social interactions due to his mental disorder.
In addition to the statement released by the police, Armenian news reported that the International Committee of the Red Cross Yerevan Office is seeking permission to visit Karapetyan in Azerbaijan.
Communications Officer of the Yerevan Office Zara Atamuni explained that visits to individuals in Karapetyan’s position are permitted under international law and the Red Cross mandate.
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