POWs' relatives block administration building in Gyumri

Today, residents of Gyumri have blocked the entrance to the building of the Shirak regional administration. The protestors demand from the authorities to announce the dates for the return of their relatives from captivity.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 26, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev announced that all the military personnel captured during the battles in Nagorno-Karabakh had been handed over to the Armenian side and that only "saboteurs" remained in custody in Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, on March 3, the Armenian authorities announced that more than 100 citizens are still being kept captive in Azerbaijan.

Today, relatives of prisoners of war (POWs) from the Shirak Region, who took part in the battles during the autumn escalation of the Karabakh conflict, have blocked the entrance to the building of the regional administration in Gyumri, the "Sputnik-Armenia" reports.

The protesters do not let employees of the Shirak Region administration into the building and also refuse to comment to journalists on what is happening, the edition reports.

Earlier, residents of the Shirak Region gathered in front of the administration building also on March 3. The protestors demanded from the authorities to announce the specific date for the return of the prisoners of war. According to the activists, instead of reporting the accurate information, the authorities were constantly persuading them to wait, the "Interfax" reported on March 3.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 5, 2021 at 12:35 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.