Everyone Will Return: Simonian on the Return of Prisoners

The process, the work, and the style we are implementing with Azerbaijan are complex and difficult, but it is a thing that creates an opportunity to move forward, and we should not refuse it. That is what we are doing,” stated the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian, during a press briefing, responding to a question from a journalist regarding Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement in an interview with France 24 that he does not intend to return the Armenian prisoners held in Baku, and reiterated the thesis about amending the Armenian Constitution.

According to Simonian, he has not seen the interview and cannot comment on it. “I have not seen that interview and cannot comment on it, because I am not ready to interpret an interview, especially such an important one, with a single sentence or quote. I can say that, giving a general assessment, the process and the work and style we are currently implementing with Azerbaijan are complex and difficult, but it is a thing that creates an opportunity to move forward, which we should not refuse. That is what we are doing,” Simonian emphasized.

Regarding the prisoners, he expressed confidence that everyone will return. “They will return; everyone will return. Not today, not tomorrow, but everyone will return. Just as in the past when there were people reaching up to 200, there were also people listed as missing, but through work, we managed to bring them back. That work will not stop until the last Armenian returns to the Republic of Armenia,” said Simonian.