Approximately 30 cities around the world staged protests demanding the release of Armenian prisoners of war and captives in Azerbaijan. The first pan-Armenian protest took place on April 15th.
A protest action demanding the return of the Armenian hostages from Azerbaijan took place in front of the RA National Assembly building
Dozens of citizens gathered in Yerevan to stage protests with posters saying ‘Freedom for Armenian prisoners of war,’ giving letters to foreign embassies in Armenia.
The march started from the National Assembly building. The protesters visited the German, British, Italian, French, and American embassies, as well as several others, including the Chinese embassy. They read the letters in English, noting that Azerbaijan continues to violate international conventions on human rights through keeping Armenian prisoners of war. Then, they put the letters in the mailboxes.
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The pan-Armenian Freedom for Armenian Prisoners initiative organized the march. According to the orga\nizers, “We saw progress over the past two weeks in the sense that our deputy’s diplomacy was rather effective. The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe issued a statement calling upon the Azerbaijani government to return Armenian prisoners of war. We have witnessed a number of serious diplomatic and political statements, of course, and we expect that the statements will turn into practical steps while helping our compatriots return to their homeland as soon as possible.”
The parents and relatives of prisoners of war also participated in the protests, and the majority of them had visited from the Shirak Province. They said that the more time passes, the less hope they have to see the prisoners of war alive. That is why they wish to turn the world’s attention to this problem through protests. “Azerbaijan is not obeying the demands of international agencies, and it does not wish to return our sons to us without preconditions. The more time goes by, the more us parents become pessimistic. We do not have hope that we will ever see our children.”
A relative of one of the Armenian prisoners of war said that their son-in-law left behind his mother, wife, and 1-year-old child. “We were able to write some letters thanks to the Red Cross, as well as a video call, but that does not comfort us. Their families, parents, and relatives are in a terrible mental state. We hope that our protests will be effective.”
Protester Tigran Ambartanyan, whose brother is also a prisoner, said that we do not have any terrorists in Azerbaijan. “We can prove that both during the war and in the post-war period, our citizens and soldiers went to defend their homeland. Members of Shirak’s militia went to fight, and the rest were soldiers. Defending the homeland is a sacred activity in all countries, and that cannot be considered an act of terrorism. We demand international organizations to put pressure on Azerbaijan so that our prisoners of war can return.”
Tigran spoke to his brother for the last time on December 10th during a video call.
Lusine Budaghyan
