The Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference Tuesday that he was planning to meet with parents of Karen Ghazaryan who is held captive in Azerbaijan.
"My wife has already visited his family twice, which means the issue has always been central to us. But the action which took place recently, frankly speaking, was surprising to me. Who was this action against? If it was against the actions of the Azerbaijani authorities, why would they close the road, which, in general, is one of the strategic goals of Azerbaijan? If this action was against us because we did not pay enough attention to the problem, why has the prime minister's wife paid a visit to the family twice and have we had such a precedent when the family in a similar situation has received so much attention? If it refers to Armenia’s efforts towards return or exchange of captives, of course, it should be implemented, but should the process not be in line with the interests of Armenia or do we mean we should return him at any cost no matter what reactions it might receive from the society," Nikol Pashinyan said.
According to him, this is not an easy issue.
The Acting Prime Minister mentioned that there is another guy besides Karen Ghazaryan, who is in captivity as well. "Why do not they block roads block for him? Because he is an orphan? Are we being guided by this logic, he is an orphan, let him stay there?"
Nikol Pashinyan said that now Azerbaijan offers to exchange everyone with everyone, but should we take that way?
"One of the two Azeris in Artsakh was sentenced to death and another to 20 years of imprisonment because they killed two people, including a young man, and wounded another person. Now do we agree to return two more Ramil Safarovs to Azerbaijan, do we agree with this option? I understand and treat the grief of this family with great respect but I cannot understand the closing of the Armenian-Georgian road," he said.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, if someone thinks that something could have been done and has not been done, then they are misinterpreting the situation. "I will meet with Karen Ghazaryan's parents and will have a sincere conversayion with our compatriots," said the Acting Prime Minister.