If Our Proposed Agenda Is Implemented, the Issue of Prisoners Can Be Resolved Very Quickly: Marukyan

I believe that after the elections, if our proposed agenda is implemented, the issue of prisoners can be resolved very quickly. This was stated today by Edmond Marukyan, the candidate for Prime Minister from the "Enlightened Armenia" party, during a conversation with journalists in the Nor Nork administrative district of Yerevan.

You know the situation we are in now; we have no minister, and the deputy ministers do not seem to be taking on the role of acting ministers. This is a very difficult situation. I believe that after the elections, if our proposed agenda is implemented, the issue of prisoners can be resolved very quickly. In other words, the issue of military captives can be quickly resolved if we solve our problems internally and strengthen ourselves on the external front.

Moreover, under no circumstances should the issue of prisoners be exploited in our domestic political life. Perhaps everything can be exploited, but the liberation of a person from captivity should not be exploited,” he said.

Referring to the issue of border delimitation, he mentioned that it must be realized sooner or later. “However, one cannot discuss the issue of delimitation in the current situation when a rifle is pointed at your head, and they say, come, let’s draw the borders together. What has Azerbaijan done? It has entered the internationally recognized sovereign territory of Armenia and says, I will not leave unless you sign this document. By signing this document, we take on the obligation to create a commission, by which we are obliged to comply with the decisions of that commission. No one knows what the commission will decide. Yes, the borders must be drawn, but that cannot be done by military means; it is the job of civilian agencies. In this sense, Azerbaijan's actions are not perceived by the international community,” he stated.

According to Marukyan, it is not the case that everyone in Armenia has placed their hopes on the CSTO; rather, the CSTO is the organization we are a member of, and therefore we primarily turn to this organization, and the process either starts or does not start. “Our foreign relations are very mixed; just as chaos has arisen in the country over the past few years, so there is chaos in Armenia's foreign relations too, and this situation needs to be put in order. We have numerous agreements signed with the CSTO and Russia. All of these need to be discussed to see which are operational, which are not, and why. There is no discussion on that either. In this sense, we must work with Western countries as well. Just two days ago, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Ricard was in Armenia. I handed him a letter regarding the sanctions that should be applied against the Azerbaijani military and political leadership, including the list of individuals against whom sanctions should be imposed, as well as a comprehensive justification of why the West should impose these sanctions. I hope this will also be a topic of discussion at the U.S. State Department,” he added.