If the Country's Leader Were Committed, the Captives Issue Could Mostly Be Resolved: Vazgen Manukyan

It should be taken into account that Azerbaijan wants to use the captives for political purposes. This was stated by the unified candidate Vazgen Manukyan during the regional meetings of the 'Homeland Salvation' movement in Vanadzor, in response to questions from the audience.

'The issue of captives is indeed complex, but Russia can be helpful in this regard, secondly, international organizations should be involved, and thirdly, the leadership of Armenia is also important, but not in Nikol Pashinyan's case. We must consider that Azerbaijan wants to use these captives for political purposes, it does not consider them prisoners, it wants to judge them. However, if the country's leader were committed to the matter, in my opinion, this issue could mostly be resolved,' he said.

According to Vazgen Manukyan, previously all presidents who led the Karabakh movement had a clear vision of how they wanted to resolve the Karabakh issue and the maximum they could achieve: the independence of Artsakh, perhaps joining Shahumyan, and direct ties with Armenia.

'The pain is that no one from the government has presented this, and having no land means no negotiations, which means war,' he stated.