YEREVAN. – A group of fellow villagers and relatives of Armenian citizen Karen Ghazaryan, who is in captivity by Azerbaijan, carried out a protest Monday morning in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, and in support of Ghazaryan.

Several dozen university students from Berdavan border village and neighboring villages in Tavush Province marched from Yerevan State University to the government building.

The demonstrators told Armenian News-NEWS.am that the government should focus considerably on Ghazaryan’s matter, and that acting PM Nikol Pashinyan should meet with his family. In their view, Armenia is not taking enough steps to raise this matter.

Also, the protesters are going to submit a letter to the acting PM on behalf of Karen Ghazaryan’s parents.

As reported earlier, on October 17, the residents of Berdavan village had blocked the road leading to Bagratashen checkpoint at the border with Georgia, and demanded that Ghazaryan be returned from captivity in Azerbaijan.

Karen Ghazaryan (born in 1984), a resident of Berdavan village, had ended up in Azerbaijan for unknown reasons, and was captured on July 15.

Azerbaijan had attempted to present this as “the prevention of a reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces on the border.” The incident allegedly had occurred in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Gazakh Region. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry had said an Armenian serviceman was taken captive.

The Armenian Defense Ministry, however, formally had declared that Ghazaryan was not serving and had never served in the Armed Forces of Armenia.

And on November 16, the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, announced that he had petitioned to the UN and the Council of Europe commissioners, in connection with having Ghazaryan returned to Armenia, and that relevant work was being done also in close cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.