From the highlights of Serzh Sargsyan’s messages since 2009 on the occasion of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day.

 “Crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations either in people’s memory or before the court of history. International recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide is a matter of restoration of historical justice for the Armenian people and the Republic of Armenia.”

 “Some people suggest us not to dig up the old wounds of 100 years ago, but to look ahead.” Our response to such admonitions is as follows: Orhan Pamuk and Hrand Dink were not tried 100 years ago. They were judged before our eyes. This issue is topical and urgent for both Turkish and Armenian societies.”

 “At the same time, I publicly reaffirm. we do not consider Turkish society as an enemy. Bowing our heads in front of the memory of the innocent victims, we remember all those Turkish individuals, Turkish families, who reached out to their Armenian neighbors and friends who were being destroyed by the barbarians in those difficult days, and freed many Armenian children from the clutches of the khujan.”

 “Genocide is a consequence not only of the developments within the given state or society, but also of the failure of the entire international system. It has been proven more than once that impunity is a prerequisite for the repetition of genocide.”

 “The recognition of the genocide is not the world’s tribute to the Armenian people and its victims. Genocide recognition is the victory of human conscience and justice over intolerance and hatred.”

 “Before being separatists, let’s be patriots as a nation.”

 “On important occasions, I always wear the forget-me-not, which has become a symbol of the fight against genocide. It has a very clear advice and message. The crime committed against our people more than a century ago can never be forgotten.”

 “The rulers of Armenia should not forget that more than a million lives that were cut off these days 110 years ago can never become a subject of negotiation, and the undeniable reality of the genocide cannot be presented as an “obstacle to peace”. The opposite approach cannot be qualified otherwise than political demoralization and denationalization.

 “The authorities denying national interests and endangering the existence of the state must be removed, because the shortest way to lose statehood is through giving up one’s rights and dignity, the struggle for justice, and erasing the historical memory. Therefore:

IT IS OUR DUTY TO REMEMBER
DEMANDING THE RIGHT
FIGHTING IS A NECESSITY.”

—

RA Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan started the working day on his Facebook page publication doing so, where he referred to the 2026 “Index of Economic Freedom” report of “The Heritage Foundation” last month.

First of all, it is surprising that the Minister of Economy at 10:00 in the morning, for example, has nothing else to do than to ensure the activity of his social page, especially when the published content has been discussed and analyzed for weeks. Secondly, it is impossible to ignore the fact that in the logic of the pre-election campaign, the minister chose to highlight only the paragraphs containing positive wording from the voluminous report.

Naturally, Minister Papoyan ignored the fact that, according to that report, Armenia has been ranked among “moderately free” countries for 5 years, which means that the government has not been able to ensure any qualitative progress, no matter how loudly they try to “shout” about it. Moreover, in 2026 the recorded increase of 1.7 points is not a new achievement, but a return to the figure recorded more than a decade ago in 2015.

In other words, the policy implemented for years has exhausted the previously accumulated potential: In 2017, Armenia even managed to make the transition to a higher group of “mostly free” countries. In short, the “reforms” trumpeted by the authorities over the last 8 years have not pushed the country forward, but pushed the country back, nullifying the previously recorded progress.

The current authorities will presumably try to rely on the growth of some sub-indices: “trade”, “monetary” or “financial freedom”. But even here the picture is very worrying.

For example, the current rate of “freedom of trade” is only surpassed by the rates of the previous five years, and before that such a low result was last recorded in 1999. It is simply frivolous to talk about any structural progress here.

Papoyan is not talking about the fact that, according to that report: The level of “freedom of labor” is significantly inferior to the indicators of 2007-2017., and a result lower than the current value of “investment freedom” was last recorded in 2007. This is a clear signal that the economic environment has lost its attractiveness for both internal and external actors.

And, most importantly, Papoyan is silent and does not find it appropriate to raise the fact that the most problematic image was formed in the “rule of law” group. Armenia ranks among the “economically oppressed” countries in two fundamental areas: “protection of property rights” and “effectiveness of justice”.significantly inferior to the world averages. This means that the fundamental conditions necessary for the normal development of the economy are not provided in the country: protection of property, applicability of contracts, independent and efficient judicial system.

In other words, the investor in Armenia does not have sufficient guarantees, the business does not trust the courts, and the citizen does not see the impartial application of the law. And this assessment is made not in the framework of internal political criticism, but in the analysis of an international authoritative structure.

In this context, it is not possible not to mention the state’s seizure of the HEC, the inglorious activities of the “ANIF” fund, as a result of which millions of dollars were lost. these are prime examples of possible developments for investors, which definitely did not escape the attention of the authors of the report. Forceful and non-transparent interventions by the state towards large economic objects create an atmosphere of uncertainty, where ownership becomes subject to political whims.

A reminder to the minister: no matter how much your political force is preparing for the next parliamentary elections, at the same time, you continue to hold the position of minister and are paid quite a lot for it.

Advice, exhortation: when you get to the office in the morning, deal with resolving the many economic gaps and challenges within the state as a result of your own team’s apocalyptic policies, in short, work, and finally sign out from the work computer and social media. from your personal accounts on the platforms because Since 2018, your entire political team has run the country with Facebook posts and for Facebook posts, be it foreign policy, war, economy or justice.

—

Another case of vandalism took place in Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan. This time, as a result of Azerbaijani vandalism, the Cathedral of St. Mary of Stepanakert was destroyed. Until now, Azerbaijan has thoroughly destroyed various churches both in Stepanakert and in the regions.

Artsakh cultural heritage ombudsman Hovik Avanesov recently presented statistics on the cases of vandalism in Artsakh, informing that about 1000 cases of similar vandalism have already been registered by Azerbaijan.

To what extent do the international structures that deal with the preservation of cultural heritage keep these cases in the center of their attention, how is the problem presented in different structures from the Armenian side?

Raffi Kortoshyan, deputy director of the Foundation for the Study of Armenian Architecture according to them, they have not heard any statement from any international organization regarding the vandalized monuments in Artsakh recently.

“Actually, these problems are not even raised. Satellite photos are still not available, there are only old satellite photos that show that the church is still there, but it has been almost proven by various Facebook users that the Stepanakert church has been destroyed. We are waiting for new satellite photos, after which we will definitely talk about everything.

Reactions to all cases of vandalism are limited only on the Internet by different users or professionals, there is no reaction from any international organization.” 168.amRaffi Kortoshyan said in a conversation with

According to our interlocutor, various experts and individuals promptly spread all the data regarding vandalism, present facts, but the response is delayed.

“The International Court of Justice in 2022 has a decision adopted on September 7 that Azerbaijan is obliged to protect Armenian monuments from destruction, they will not be vandalized. However, we are witnessing that Azerbaijan does not fulfill this decision and destroys the monuments every day.

In reality, the laws and commitments, decisions of international courts should become a deterrent mechanism for Azerbaijan, if Azerbaijan does not do all that, then other steps should be taken.

I think the international community, civilization is in a deep sleep. “The international community, which is divided, does not talk about the forced displacement of people, ethnic cleansing and genocides. It is hard for me to imagine that it should talk about, for example, the destroyed churches,” added Raffi Kortoshyan.

According to him, by eliminating the Armenian monuments and the Armenian traces in Artsakh, Azerbaijan has one goal and has always fulfilled its goals, both in Nakhichevan, in Northern Artsakh and in Artsakh itself, and in all those areas, Azerbaijan has destroyed and is destroying all Armenian monuments.

“Azerbaijan even destroyed cemeteries, today is no exception, it is doing the same thing. After subjecting Armenians to ethnic cleansing and displacement, he continues to destroy Armenian monuments. After ethnic cleansing, this is a new ethnic cleansing, already in terms of monuments,” Raffi Kortoshyan emphasized.

—

In recent days, 2020 was put on the agenda for discussion. During the days of the 44-day war, the share of responsibility of the Defense Army of Artsakh and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia regarding the breach of the defense line in important areas, Azerbaijani penetrations in tactical depth and the loss of Shushi.

In particular, the basis for this was the adoption of the 2025 plan of the RA government in the National Assembly on April 17. During the performance discussion, the application statement of the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, the head of the Hayastan faction Seyran Ohanyan, that during the 44-day war, the Artsakh Defense Army had a defense zone of 283 km, of which they kept 265 km for one month, until October 27, 2020.

“With your zone of responsibility, Azerbaijan has bypassed and reached the borders of Shushi, Berdzor, Berdadzor and the Republic of Armenia – the borders of Goris, Kapan, Meghri. Now you say that the generals escaped, they escaped under your leadership, go and make a decision,” said Ohanyan, addressing Nikol Pashinyan.

Later 24TV–in a conversation with , he noted that the first line of responsibility for the penetration into the Artsakh defense zone is the Artsakh Defense Army, but if the enemy concentrates its main efforts in the direction of the breakthrough zone and penetrates into the defense zone at tactical depth, then the RA armed forces join the problem with the appropriate military unit and other forces. In other words, according to Seyran Ohanyan, in this case the decisions are taken by the RA authorities, and Pashinyan is the main person responsible.

«On the right side of the Artsakh defense zone, there is a large area, about 100 km along the Araxi river, to the borders of the Republic of Armenia. It is in that direction that Azerbaijan was able to develop its attack and reach the borders of the Republic of Armenia. And it was very difficult for PB to turn its right wing in that area, so to speak, so that it could fully implement its defense. If the enemy had been stopped there in time with tactical depth, then the capture of Hadrut and Shushi would not have happened.” he continued.

It should be noted that this idea is the most comprehensive in S. Ohanyan said still in 2023 168.amwith in the interview. 

“The Defense Forces had a 283 km defensive zone, the enemy attacked in 2 places in the southern direction: Hadrut, Jabrail, and in the northern direction: Martakert. In the southern direction, the enemy managed to break through the defensive line. With that breakthrough, the enemy was able to reach 52 km to Shushi, and 70-100 km to reach parts of Meghri, Kapan, Goris, Sev Lake. …The opponent was able to break through and move forward in the place in which it was the duty of the RA leader to confirm the decision. We must see the Shushi operation in the context of the entire defensive operation and the consistent or gradual advance of the enemy throughout that breakthrough zone. Shushi’s operation should not be seen separately, they should have faced at least the forest areas of Hadrut in the collision zone, where there were quite good conditions to stop the enemy,” explained the former Minister of Defense.

It is another matter that S. In recent days, Ohanyan has avoided answering our questions about military or war operations, including the defense of Shushi.

Hadrut, going to Shush was not in the area of ​​responsibility of the First Army Corps of the RA Armed Forces

We tried to listen Former First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan professional opinion, who was in charge of the southern route, and in the context of the conversation these days, misconceptions could arise.

“Hadrut, Shushi, who has a little understanding, should understand that this has nothing to do with my area of ​​responsibility, it has nothing to do with it at all, it is outside that area. The direction they went from Hadrut to Shushi has nothing to do with the southern group at all. Are you saying that Seyran Ohanyan gives the name of the Araks bank, that “along the Araks river about 100 km to the borders of Armenia, Azerbaijan was able to develop its attack and reach the borders of Armenia in that direction”, S. Ohanyan says something else, he says that the responsibility for organizing defense in strategic depth lies with N. It is on Pashinyan.

And the Araks coast, which he says, was the defense zone of the 9th defense region of Artsakh, which operated as part of the Artsakh Armed Forces until the end. As for the 1st Army Corps of the RA Armed Forces, what task did it receive, as far as the forces were satisfied, it fulfilled them. And the breakthrough, then the promotion, has nothing to do with the 1st MC of the RA Armed Forces. Hadrut, going to Shush was neither under the responsibility of the First Army Corps nor anyone else. It was the area of ​​responsibility of the Artsakh Defense Forces, there are problems related to the Defense Forces command. Something else that has not been done to counter their forces, to protect them… or to challenge them properly organizationally.

If we go into more detail. there was a defense base, a position, a stronghold, a district, then a zone of responsibility of the Defense Ministry, and after all that, there is Shushi deeper,” explained the general, repeating that S. Ohanyan said that the main responsible is the head of the country, the supreme commander, he must understand what decision he is under, so to speak, “signing”.

On the contrary, N. Pashinyan has stated on various occasions that he is not a specialist in military affairs and is not obliged to understand narrow issues, on the other hand, 168.amthe wrote that during the 44-day war, martial law was declared in RA, during which the prime minister cannot be the supreme commander, that is, the head of the General Staff is subordinate to the Minister of Defense, Tiran Khachatryan responded.

“If he is not a specialist, why is he in charge? As for the second part of the question, then ask why they were reporting everything to him and he was making the decision himself.”

Armenia may have demanded something, but Azerbaijan said far play

Taking into account that at some point the second stage of demarcation and demarcation will take place in the Tavush region, and according to politicians and experts, the handing over of the enclave villages will destroy not only the internal communications of the Tavush region, but will also put the highway through Tavush to Bagratashen, the Armenian-Georgian border, and the gas pipeline entering the RA from Georgia under attack, we, the first deputy chief of the RA Armed Forces in the conversation with, we could not ignore the developments in the Tavush area.

After all, the fact that in 2020 The clause about Tavush was removed from the tripartite statement of November 9-10 contributed also Tiran Khachatryan.

In this context, we have not bypassed 2019 in the Tavush sector. Thanks to the 3rd Army Corps of the RA Armed Forces, the positional improvements we recorded when the authorities were recording որ՝ “Under the full control of the Armenian forces are strategically important for our country: the gas pipeline from Georgia to Armenia and the Armenia-Georgia highway, as well as the roads leading to several rural settlements of Azerbaijan.”

After this in 2020 In July, military operations took place, during which Armenia also secured positional improvements. 2024 168.amin a conversation with former RA Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan said. “Tavush 2020 the July battles and the preceding 2019 The February operations were carried out based on the strategic logic of strengthening RA’s positions.”

But years after the July battles, N. Pashinyan destroyed the successes of the July battles through the pilot demarcation and demarcation process.

Tiran Khachatryan confirms: “at that time, we performed tasks of positional improvement”.

“As for the demarcation and demarcation process, today we have not solved any issue in our favor, we have fulfilled the demands put forward by the enemy. We haven’t solved any issues for ourselves. Can you mention somewhere that something has been done for historical justice, restoration of reality, or, why not, to fix the situation in our favor in the order fixed for the present? Nothing like this has happened. And to think that some issue will be resolved for us in the future will not be such a thing. There is no such thing.

What Azerbaijan said and wanted, it got. Even if something was presented by us, so to speak, they gave it to the mouth and threw it in the trash, if it was. In any case, any questions for us (and they are not few, still in terms of the restoration of the borders of the Soviet period) have not been asked. There are useful things in the existing maps that were Armenian and are not ours now. I don’t know if they may have requested them, but they said play away. The situation shows that,” said the general.

—

The US State Department called on Americans to leave Iran immediately.

It is noted that the Americans who want to leave Iran can also travel by land to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.

US citizens are not advised to visit Afghanistan, Iraq, and the border regions of Pakistan and Iran. The US State Department declares that it should be taken into account that the Iranian government can prevent US citizens from leaving the country or set an “exit fee” for leaving Iran. Persons with dual US and Iranian citizenship must leave Iran with Iranian passports.

—

Former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, Colonel-General Seyran Ohanyan last week speechn: In the National Assembly in 2020 About the actions of the Artsakh Defense Army during the 44-day war, the decision-making mechanisms of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and the responsibility of Nikol Pashinyan, and after that, shared by the former head of the Defense Forces, Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan the statement have stimulated a new public debate on the subject of the 44-day war and post-war events.

On topic 168 TVof Revue is the guest of the program Former Chairman of the Defense Industry Committee (2018-2020) Avetik Kerobyan։

The expert emphasizes that in 2020 military clashes on the Tavush border in the summer of 2020. There are many lies circulating about the autumn Forty-four-day war and all the military operations that took place since 2020, and the sad thing is that the Armenian people only know fragmentary truths or half-truths about them.

Regarding the public appeal of the former chief of the general staff to “explode all the lies that are circulating”, Avetik Kerobyan recalls the famous words of the first chancellor of Imperial Germany, Otto von Bismarck: “People never lie more than before elections, during war and after hunting»։

Avetik Kerobyan is convinced that this statement of the former chief of the general staff Onik Gasparyan, with the proposal to organize a closed discussion in the National Assembly on the topic of the 44-day war and post-war events and the call to “explode all the lies that are circulating”, is simply “STAGED”in order to purify Nikol Pashinyan’s political past and guarantee his political future. According to Kerobyan, Onik Gasparyan did not realize the responsibility of his position.

“Here we are dealing not only with Onik Gasparyan’s statements, which should be legally assessed, but also with Nikol Pashinyan’s statements, which are self-confessed statements about official crimes.

Of course, more than 5 years have passed since then, but we must not forget that Nikol Pashinyan gave many self-confessed statements about crimes against the Republic of Armenia and has not been punished to this day,” Avetik Kerobyan noted.

Speaking about the 44-day war and various episodes, the former chairman of the Military Industry Committee specifically mentions the short cease-fire established on October 10, which he personally witnessed, being in front-line positions, and notes that the Armenian side violated it first, and until now there has been no answer as to why the Armenian side violated that cease-fire, why the rocket attack on Gandzak airport was announced.

“I met General Onik Gasparyan for the first time after the war around December 10, when one of our army corps, which was protecting the northern part of the contact line, retreated from Vardenis to Jermuk and even further south and occupied new terrain and was not at all protected even from snow and rain, and you know what winter weather means in the northern positions of Jermuk.

The army was generally in a defenseless state, in unequipped positions, but General Onik Gasparyan was busy shifting the responsibility from himself to the so-called border guard troops. Approximately two and a half months after that, the famous announcement was made, calling for the resignation of the Government.

That evening and the following evening, I also met with Onik Gasparyan, who did not even realize the responsibility that came with the position he held, and I think he did not even realize the responsibility that came with that position during the war, because if the Republic of Armenia did not declare war, Onik Gasparyan remained the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and was obliged to independently make decisions and manage the troops independently.

Along with that, we know of many documented cases that persons without any official authority participated in the management of the troops, for example, the wife of the Prime Minister at that time… And we also know that Onik Gasparyan allowed Nikol Pashinyan to make decisions and reveal the planned actions of the Armed Forces during the ongoing military operations in an interview given to the foreign media, we remember the famous interview of “RBK”, and did not take measures to ensure at least the information security of the troops under his command. in part.

At that time, Onik Gasparyan was obliged to issue an order to arrest Nikol Pashinyan, because the man was in an unbalanced state and was carrying out actions contrary to the interests of the RA Armed Forces. He didn’t do it. Of course, that time has passed, but standing up today and saying, “You know what’s going on, I’m ready to face it, but behind closed doors”, I’m sorry, is a very poorly hidden attempt to clean up Nikol Pashinyan’s political past and guarantee his political future,” commented Avetik Kerobyan.

Our interlocutor also reminds that the current government as in 2016 Four-day war, as well as 2020 He formed two investigative commissions on the issues of the 44-day war, both headed by Andranik Kocharyan, chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs of the National Assembly, whose reports remained confidential.

“During the past 5 years, they had a lot of time to hide many facts and traces, to hide the facts, to lose the traces. I am sure that corrections were made in the operational planning maps in order to hide the ignorance, the ignorance, to hide the reasons for the failures.

I am sure that the postponement of the publication of the report of this investigative commission and the consequent non-discussion at the plenary session aim at one thing: to hide one’s own crimes, to hide one’s own inaction and the large territorial and human losses that occurred as a result of that inaction. Kocharyan Andranik must give answers. Alen Simonyan, who is currently the Speaker of the National Assembly and is obliged to answer to the Armenian people about all this, must give answers, because the National Assembly is not a group with narrow interests. The National Assembly is responsible to the people, it is the only structure endowed with a primary mandate in our country,” Kerobyan added.

Let’s remind that on April 17, the leader of the National Assembly “Hayastan” faction, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan, addressing Nikol Pashinyan, from the podium of the National Assembly had announcedthat if the generals escaped, it is Nikol Pashinyan’s responsibility.

“The Defense Army, Mr. Pashinyan, had a defense zone of 283 km, of which they kept 265 km for a month until October 27. The generals you mentioned escaped through that area, and I think that it is your responsibility, because if the General Staff makes the decision, the General Staff or Artsakh President approves, and if there are several military units, the General Staff and several Armenian military units, then the Chief of the General Staff makes the decision there, and you approve. In your area of ​​responsibility, Azerbaijan has bypassed and reached the borders of Shushi, Berdzor, Berdadzor and the borders of the Republic of Armenia: Goris, Kapan, Meghri,” Ohanyan said in particular.

To this announcement on April 19 had responded Onik Gasparyan, the former head of the General Assembly, proposing to organize a closed discussion in the National Assembly in 2020.  on the subject of the war and post-war events and declaring that “it is time to face reality and explode all the lies and unnecessary speculations that are being circulated”.

Nikol Pashinyan, in response to a journalist’s question during a briefing on April 2, confirmed his statement that he called some generals “cowards” and “robbers”.

“I did not say that the generals are cowards, I said that there are cowardly generals and deserters, and yes, many of them are on trial. We have looting generals who go through illegal property cases, and we have generals who go through corruption cases, and the shoulder of the general is no one… In general, I think we have to use the word “hero” very carefully, because we have used the word so much that, in fact, we have blurred the real heroes into verbal heroes. Or what is the news that they once again turned it into a subject of dispute? The fact that we have tens of thousands of people who refused to perform the combat task, who are we hiding from? I want to understand…

You know what, people should not associate their escape, their robbery with my orders. I did not give such orders. People wanted to receive such orders, I never gave such orders. Whoever says such a thing is from the army of robbers. I apologize to all those people who fulfilled their civil and military duty to the end. In conversation, it turns out that wet and dry are mixed. I never mix wet and dry and call people and things by their names.

Yes, we have had cowardly generals. What will happen to a person who became a general as a result of corruption? Or, in general, does he look like a soldier? “Who is the general who threw his stomach 3 meters to his face?” Nikol Pashinyan specifically said.

Full interview in the video.

—

168TV’s “Zara Has a Question” the guest of the program Economist Nairi Sargsyan is the head of the “Armenia is me” initiative. The initiative has announced that it will join forces with “Strong Armenia” led by Samvel Karapetyan in the upcoming elections.

A few points of Nairi Sargsyan’s conversation in one shot․

• What does Nikol Pashinyan say?՛and we should focus on its diametric opposite. Pashinyan is too small a figure to talk about the opening of borders․ he is not a decision-maker, he is only a follower and carries out assignments. And the opening of the borders by Turkey does not create any positive opportunities for Armenia yet.

• Nikol Pashinyan, I invite you, the ministers of your economic bloc, your deputies to the debate, come to the debate. They are lying․ let them say just one product or service is exportable. Moreover, Turkey will become an actor in the matter of raising the limits of import duties from 3rd countries in Armenia. It’s just that we have been lucky in a certain sense, in the sense that we are part of the Eurasian Economic Union, and we do not decide the customs duties alone. The EAEU is determined by laws, regulations and agreements. Therefore, Turkey is still not able to interfere much in the internal life of Armenia.

• If the borders were suddenly opened, Turkish goods flooded the Armenian market, Turkish investments flowed into Armenia… a good future does not await us, but we must also repeat for the sake of justice that, yes, one day we must open the border of Turkey, we must open it after doing our homework, we must be ready for shocks, be ready to face it, after that, please, let us open it.

• Cargo can enter from Kazakhstan through the territory of Azerbaijan, exit to the territory of Georgia, and then to Armenia. This is not a manifestation of goodwill on the part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan makes money, Georgia makes money, Kazakhstan makes money, Armenian businessman makes money. Nikol Pashinyan is simply boasting, these are lies.

• In terms of fuel, Azerbaijan has no potential. even the demand for domestic consumption is not enough to export a single item to Armenia… 

• Which fuel do we bring to Armenia, Russian, why can’t we bring it directly from Russia, besides, Armenia has quota agreements with Russia in terms of fuel, the price of the release is sold to Armenia at domestic consumption prices. In other words, these are such magics that are revealed immediately, Azerbaijan cannot supply fuel to Armenia, it is not its own.

• Energy cooperation means closing the nuclear power plant, Armenia’s energy dependence on Turkey. Turkey has been complaining about the existence of the Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia for years, considers it a danger and a threat to itself and is simultaneously building a new nuclear power plant with the Russians, the “Akkuyu” nuclear power plant. You see Nikol Pashinyan’s hysterical statements that we need to replace or re-equip the nuclear power plant, etc… they are just packaging to make our society believe. In reality, 32% of Armenia’s energy demand is produced by the nuclear power plant. The cheapest electricity is produced by the nuclear power plant, but they want to close the nuclear power plant and import the deficit from Turkey.

• Inflation of essential goods was approximately 40%. the pension has decreased and not increased in Armenia.

• Health insurance is just a disgrace. Our compatriots are excited, it’s normal, it’s objective, because they’ve had illnesses for years, many of them couldn’t go to medical institutions. But do you know how it is happening now? So, when we talk, we say that the allocated budget will be enough until the elections, after that we will face big problems, it was not enough. Additional money was allocated from the government’s reserve fund, additional debt was raised, until June 7 it will still be raised, after June 7 its fate is unknown… 

• At whose expense? And 320 billion drams only the increase in the interest of the state debt, which could increase the pension of each pensioner by 50,000 drams. In other words, it happened that the pensioner was cheated.

Details in the video.

—

Satik Seyranyan’s guest in “Pressing” program doctor of political science, former chairman of the RA National Assembly Tigran Torosyan is

The main points of the interview are below.

• The authorities are in an unprecedentedly bad, unfavorable position shortly before the elections, and there are obvious manifestations of this. Panic is already evident from Nikol Pashinyan’s behavior. When a person is no longer able to stay within the limits set by his position, what is it that is not panic? In addition, the number of cases when citizens express their dissatisfaction with the work of the government has significantly increased. 

• Today, various public opinion polls show that since 2021 the rating of the government has dropped significantly. According to that, today the problem is not the government, the rating of the government is very low, the problem is how the opposition forces will work in order to have more than half of the votes in the Parliament.

• You should always give opportunities to the youth, but you should not cut the link between the generations. Next to the youth there should be people with experience.
• The opposition must do everything to prevent the authorities from reproducing, otherwise this continuous decline and disaster may have an obvious continuation after the elections… I am sure that the government is waiting for its reproduction to finish the disaster it has created. The task of the voter, the citizen, at this moment should be to free the country from this disaster, but also to submit demands to the opposition regarding what to do next.
• There are no full-fledged parties in Armenia that would meet the modern requirements of parties. There are parties created 10 days ago that have announced their participation in the elections. These are the spoiler or scattering or, as it is customary to say, vote dusting parties. 

• The ruling party, CP, will not exist if it is not in power. There was a party that endured and did not collapse after losing power. it is the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), and I think it would be right for it to participate in these elections. RPA is an exceptional party. there was both opposition and government. His experience is the experience of Armenia. It would be right to take responsibility and go to the elections, because the opposition that exists today clearly has less experience than the RPA. I have known many of them for more than 30 years. they are honest, patriotic, upright people. 

• A party is an idea-based, voluntary association of people. If the political forces of Armenia really want to bring about radical positive changes in the country, they should not only strive to come to power, but also move on to solving the internal organizational issues of their structures.

• The most shameful thing is that they have moved on to terrorizing people, including school children. Even schoolchildren are subjected to terror… How did they treat the school-age boy Davit Minasyan during the liturgy in St. Anna Church? No self-respecting person should enter a church with bodyguards. It is a sanctuary. It was a specific terror that was carried out on two brothers in St. Anne’s Church:

• By the authorities in 2021 administrative levers were also used, but still it was not possible to get more than 26%, they could not.

• In Armenia, there is a mythical idea about external influence on elections. That influence on the outcome of the elections cannot have an impact of even 1 percent. In this case, there are manifestations of support that can have a negative impact, for example, the support of Turkey and Azerbaijan to Nikol Pashinyan. The result of the election will be decided by the RA citizen. The opposition must actively work with people to explain and convince them to go to the polling station on June 7. 2021 the opposition forces could not convince people to go to the polling station, that’s why they lost. 

• The government that receives the support of the absolute majority of citizens is legitimate. 

• Unfortunately, the political component in the agenda of the opposition forces that applied for participation is incomplete. In particular, their position on Artsakh is worrying. We should not say that we should wait for Artsakh to be safe for the people of Artsakh to return, but we should work so that the return is safe. The opinion of the Armenian people and the Armenian government regarding the Artsakh issue are not the same, and that is gratifying. The overwhelming majority of our people is of the opinion that the issue of Artsakh is not closed. There is no need to approach the Artsakh problem with fear and caution:

• Regarding TRIPP, perhaps what constrains the opposition is that the US is interested in it. But you have to protect your interests so that they respect you and talk to you. If Armenia follows that path, not only geopolitical problems will arise, but Armenia will also lose its influence.

• Armenia must correct both the terrible and catastrophic mistakes made by these authorities and the mistakes that came before them.

• Nikol Pashinyan scares citizens with war, blackmails them. People who fear war, however, should remember what happened in the last 8 years and what happened before that. We have found ourselves in such a situation that today Artsakh and significant areas of Armenia are under the occupation of Azerbaijan. Is this peace? When one side refuses to defend itself, to resist, the other side no longer needs to fight. It is no coincidence that Aliyev said: we will not enter Yerevan with tanks, but with passenger cars… Let people look at the facts: where are the Azerbaijanis today, and where were they before 2018? So these are disaster, war, losses, bringers of genocide, ethnic cleansing. He brought war, disaster, genocide and ethnic cleansing. He did not and cannot bring peace. Garegin Nzhdeh did not say: go to war, he said: be ready for war, have a strong will and a strong army. We have been peaceful when we resisted the enemy, when we defended our home and land. At that time, father and son Aliyev did not get along, they had cut ties. Just 2 years before they came to power, Ilham Aliyev complained that behind closed doors he was being forced to recognize the independence of Artsakh. There can be real peace only after these are gone, when the other person understands: If he commits an encroachment, he will receive a well-deserved response:

• In these elections, either the opposition will win or the opposition will lose. In other words, the government can remain in power only if the opposition does not do the relevant work until June 7.

• Is the problem of Azerbaijani refugees new and Azerbaijan did not know that there are Azerbaijani refugees? The number of Armenians who became refugees from Azerbaijan is about 400,000, from Baku, Kirovabad, Sumgait, Shahumyan, Getashen… these are the figures of the United Nations and which are not talked about today. If you are a competent government, you will demand from the international courts that the problem be considered fully and impartially. At that time, it will be clear that Azerbaijan is obliged to compensate the Armenian refugees, and this should not include the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, who must return to Artsakh and fully exercise their right to self-determination.

• Azerbaijan used to talk about one million refugees, but it was quickly revealed in international courts that their number is 8,600. Azerbaijan was just embarrassed… On any issue we have strong arguments to show that we have counter-arguments on any issue raised by Azerbaijan. 

• It is not necessary for Azerbaijan to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia, who is Azerbaijan to recognize or not to recognize, it just needs to respect the UN Charter, which states that UN member states are obliged to recognize and respect each other’s territorial integrity.

• A state is a state, an unrecognized state is also a state, such as Artsakh.

• International law will return to its place, because humanity cannot throw away regulatory norms, considering the relations and conflicts of so many states. I specifically want to say that the people of Artsakh will return to Artsakh and achieve the recognition of their self-determination, only on one condition, in case of appropriate professional work. 

• Have we seen the leader of any country stick his country’s imagined borders to his chest… Of course not. It does so because it is unable to protect its country’s borders. A head of state who respects himself, his people and his country can never show such behavior:

• The situation is hopeless for the authorities, if the opposition political forces work fully in the remaining period, work properly with the people, explain to the people, prepare their representatives in the commissions… In this case, at least a few opposition forces can gather more votes than the government.

• Putin strongly warned not to make a mistake and take drastic steps, otherwise the consequences will be severe. 

• Anyone saying the nonsense that “Armenia should join the European Union” should be asked: what must Armenia do to become a member of the EU, what conditions must it meet, and how many years will it take? Ukraine and Georgia are a few steps ahead of Armenia in this sense and are not yet able to become EU members. Even if we think that joining the EU will be useful for Armenia, Armenia is far from it:

• Armenia does not have the right to enter between states with geopolitical conflicts in order to commit hooliganism and steal something. It will inevitably be followed by punishment. it can’t be like that, it doesn’t happen like that:

• The European political summit taking place in Armenia on May 4 has no significance. It’s a well-wishing, no-leverage gathering. It is not right to overemphasize this meeting. Armenian citizens should not care if European officials came and stayed in Yerevan for, let’s say, two days. Unfortunately, today’s European officials have very low knowledge and often say things that are laughed at within their own countries.

• People working in the state apparatus, do not betray your principles, do not leave, stay and work without violating your principles as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia. Don’t settle, don’t give up and don’t become a tool. When a person goes to the voting booth, he is free and alone. It is a lie that the election is controlled at the polls. This is spread by the authorities in order to scare and oppress. Vote according to your principles. Money is important, but not everything.

Details in the video.

—