Silence of Armenia on the Issue of Armenians Held in Baku is Concerning: Vardevanyan

The candidate for the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Aram Vardevanyan, has addressed the issues of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan and the trials of the former military-political leadership of Artsakh, declaring that discussions about peace cannot be compatible with the presence of hostages.

According to him, the ongoing trials in Baku lack any legal basis, and the Armenians held there are deprived of freedom solely due to their national identity. “Peace and the agenda of peace do not imply the existence of hostages. In such conditions, discussions about peace from the neighboring country reflect a serious deficit of honesty and sincerity,” Vardevanyan stated.

He expressed concern that there has been no clear and public stance from the Armenian authorities on the issue of Armenians held in Baku to this day. “I do not think our compatriots envisioned that the issue of our innocent compatriots in Baku needed to be raised by, for example, U.S. President Donald Trump, while we have not heard a direct stance from the Armenian authorities on this matter,” he said.