Families of missing and captured Armenian soldiers gathered outside the Armenian parliament building on Wednesday, voicing their anger over the comments of National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan about prisoners of war (POWs).
Simonyan came under fire after calling Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan deserters. In a scandalous video recording which emerged online on Tuesday, he can be heard saying that many of them “laid down their arms, ran away and got lost”, ending up in captivity. “Those POWs don’t exist for me anymore,” he said.
His comments sparked protests in Yerevan on Tuesday evening. A group of relatives of captives and missing soldiers blocked traffic on the streets leading to the Republic Square, demanding that Simonyan be held accountable for his statements.
Speaking to reporters today, one of the protesters recalled Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that he was ready to exchange his son Ashot for all Armenian soldiers held captive by Az...
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