YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan says he is planning to meet with the family of Karen Ghazaryan, the resident of Berdavan who is currently held captive in Azerbaijan.

The family of the man were recently carrying out protests and shutting down the road leading to the Georgian border.

“I’ve received the appeal of Karen Ghazaryan’s parents, I’ve tasked for this meeting to be organized,” Pashinyan said today. “My wife visited this family twice, this issue has always been in our attention. But their rallies caused questions, as to against whom was it directed, if against the Azerbaijani government then why was this road being blocked, the closure of which generally was one of the Azerbaijani strategic goals. If the rally was against us, in terms of why we aren’t paying sufficient attention to the issue, then another question arises, if this was the case then why was the wife of the prime minister visiting them two times? If it was about Armenia having to make efforts, then yes, but should this process be in conformity with Armenia’s interests? These are questions that are unclear. We have another man in the same status in Azerbaijan, why aren’t roads being blocked for him? Because he is a boy from an orphanage? Are we working with this logic?”

Pashinyan mentioned that there’s much talk about Azerbaijan offering to exchange “everyone for everyone”.

“Should we go for it? One of the two Azerbaijanis in Artsakh was sentenced to life in prison, the other to 20 years, because they murdered two people and wounded another one. Do we agree to return another two Ramil Safarovs to Azerbaijan?” he said, referring to the Azerbaijani army officer convicted for the 2004 shocking murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan during a NATO training program in Budapest, Hungary. 

He said he treats the family’s concern with respect, adding he will meet with the parents.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan