Protest  outside Armenian government demanding return of Armenian  PoWs from Baku

ArmInfo. A protest  was held in front of the Armenian government to urge for effective steps to return of Armenian prisoners of war and hostages held in Baku.   Dozens of citizens came to the government with banners depicting,  among others, the military-political leadership of Artsakh, who have  been held in Azerbaijan for the second year.

One of the initiators of the action, Mesrop Arakelyan, a  representative of the "Country to Live" party and former head of the  Ministry of Socialist Labor, noted that the return of prisoners from  Baku is not only a task for Armenia, but also an obligation of the  international community. "We have consistently stated that we have no  illusions about the actions of the Armenian authorities on the issue  of returning our compatriots from Baku. It is obvious that the lack  of progress in this matter clearly shows the efforts of these  authorities are not effective. It is evident that there are many  effective tools that could be used by these authorities  to secure  the return of the Armenian prisoners. This should have been a top  priority for our authorities, rather than focusing solely on a peace  agreement," he noted. 

The politician expressed his conviction that the return of Armenian  prisoners of war should have been a key condition for the  normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Arakelyan also  emphasized that the Armenian authorities should urge the  international community to put pressure on the Azerbaijani  authorities through sanctions and secure the return of Armenian  prisoners to their homeland.