April 21, 2026
The people of Artsakh are in favor of such an Armenian government for which the issue of Artsakh is not closed. About this 168 TV Revue mentioned on the air of the program political scientist, co-founder of Artsakh “Ardarutyun” party Hakob Hakobyanspeaking about the participation of Artsakh Armenians in the NA elections.
The figure from Artsakh emphasizes that no authority can close or open the issue of Artsakh. The Armenian people opened it once and will address the issue of Artsakh until historical justice is restored.
Expressing his opinion regarding the well-known accusations addressed to Nikol Pashinyan, the people of Artsakh and military generals, and regarding this topic, former Minister of Defense of RA Seyran Ohanyan’s response to Nikol Pashinyan in the National Assembly last week. speech and Onik Gasparyan, the former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, following it statement մասին՝ Hakob Hakobyan emphasizes that such accusations have nothing to do with the morality of the people of Artsakh who were subjected to genocide and forced displacement in Artsakh.
“I think that our Armenian people understand very well that if there were about 150,000 Artsakh people living there, then they would have perished until their last breath, there would be no people left. In the new Armenia, these authorities would say that the Artsakh people fought and did not run away. The intensity of the one-day war of September 2023 probably exceeds the intensity of many wars in the world: in one day, the people of Artsakh lost more than 200 victims, not counting the nearly 1000 wounded, and those who say that the people of Artsakh did not fight, should have been in Artsakh, in Stepanakert, at that moment, and seen the workload of hospitals and hospitals, and then they would have understood, and talking about not fighting in such a situation is another manipulative action in order to put the blame on the people of Artsakh. They are talking about a people who have not moved a meter from their place of residence for centuries, have fought for centuries to live in their homeland, and imagine what the situation was when the people were forced to leave their native territories, and instead these authorities say that a genocide was committed against the people of Artsakh, they forcibly displaced the people of Artsakh from their homeland with the threat of death at gunpoint, they are talking about how the people of Artsakh seem to have voluntarily left“, emphasizes the figure from Artsakh.
According to Hakobyan, all these accusations are a direct indicator that the head of the state and the leadership conducting the war were not in their place and could not organize in such a way that there would be no escapes.
«I think that Nikol Pashinyan does not want to highlight historical justice, but this is simply another topic with which he tries to distract the public from the real issues, to make him believe that everyone is guilty except him, and thereby to remove from his shoulders all the heavy guilt that exists, because we have had such losses from the war of 2020 until today, from which the Armenian people cannot recover.Hakob Hakobyan thinks.
Speaking about the right of Artsakh Armenians to return to Artsakh, Hakob Hakobyan emphasizes. “We don’t want war, we want to stand up for what we have»։
The figure from Artsakh emphasizes that the natural right of return of Artsakh Armenians is an inalienable right, and it cannot be “closed”. the right is either exercised or not.
Hakob Hakobyan reminded that since 2023, at the initiative of the Artsakh National Assembly, a committee for the protection of fundamental rights of the people of Artsakh was created, headed by former Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan. Noting that to everyone’s surprise, not only Baku, but also the RA authorities do not welcome the Swiss peace initiative aimed at protecting the right of return of Artsakh citizens, trying to close the Artsakh issue, Hakob Hakobyan adds that the international community does not consider the Artsakh issue closed.
«No authority can close or open that issue. The Armenian people have raised this issue once and will address it until historical justice is restored.“, says the interlocutor.
According to Hakob Hakobyan: The authorities of Azerbaijan also understand that the issue of Artsakh is not closed.
Hakob Hakobyan adds that although today the world moves not by the power of law, but by the right of power, everyone is convinced that the moment will come when we will return to the power of law.
«It is not possible to rule the world for a long time with the right of force. There will come a time when we will again return to the power of law, there will come a time when they will be condemned again, although now some organizations and countries are also condemning the genocidal actions that took place in Artsakh and which do not differ from genocide in any way. Unrealized genocide is also a crime. Unfortunately, in September 2023, in front of the eyes of the world, the criminal leadership of Azerbaijan was able to commit such a crime against an entire nation by force, but I believe that there will come a time when these perpetrators will answer in a world ruled by force of law.Hakob Hakobyan adds.
According to the co-chairman of the Artsakh “Ardarutyun” party, the fact that the people of Artsakh do not want to live “under the hands of Azerbaijan” is an understatement, because Azerbaijan itself does not want Armenians to live in the territories under its control.
«Otherwise, the military and political authorities of Azerbaijan would not have given an order to kill a peaceful peasant who was doing business on his land. There are many such cases, which are not news, I am just saying, but everyone is aware of them, these authorities are also aware of them, and in that case, to blame people for why you didn’t stay, so that it was your turn, is just a misunderstanding.
It’s not like we could have peaceful coexistence there, we didn’t. For tens of years, Azerbaijanis have shown by their behavior that coexistence there is impossible, therefore, when we talk about return, we must necessarily talk about self-determining mechanisms along with it. Otherwise, the same story will repeat itself. Those people simply do not perceive and accept the Armenian nation ethnically. they kill without any reason. As long as there are no mechanisms that will curb the Armenian-hating desires of Azerbaijan, talking about the return of the people of Artsakh is just an adventure.“, he emphasizes.
Hakob Hakobyan believes that the only way to fight against all this is to remove the current regime from power and to form a government of national forces in Armenia, for which historical memory and historical justice are state guidelines.
«The people of Artsakh understand that their dream, that is, the return to Artsakh, should come true in the presence of a strong Armenia. A strong Armenia means a strong society, a national government, and only in that case is it possible to realize the collective return of the people of Artsakh to Artsakh. The people of Artsakh will be in favor of those authorities for whom the Artsakh issue is not closed, not those authorities that will declare that “the people of Artsakh fled”, as if everything was fine in Artsakh, it was calm, the people of Artsakh simply did not want to live in Stepanakert, they decided to come to Yerevan.Hakob Hakobyan mentioned.
Full interview in the video.
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RFE/RL – EU Approves New Mission To Armenia
- Rikard Jozwiak
European Union foreign ministers gave on Tuesday the green light to the deployment of another EU mission to Armenia linked by diplomats to the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision. It said the EU mission will be deployed for an “initial period of two years.”
The mission was requested by Yerevan in December and recommended by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas earlier this year. The ambassadors of EU member states in Brussels endorsed last week a relevant proposal submitted by Kallas.
The proposal seen by RFE/RL states that the European Union Partnership Mission in the Republic of Armenia (EUPM Armenia) “shall enhance the resilience of Armenia in the field of hybrid threats through the provision of strategic advice as well as operational level advice and support to relevant security sector agencies, in line with a whole-of-government approach and in close coordination with other like-minded actors.” This includes providing strategic advice to relevant Armenian ministries and agencies “for countering hybrid threats, notably Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) and cyber, as well as illicit financial flows in the electoral and political context.”
While not stated directly in the proposal approved by the ministers, it is clear Russian interference in Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections is the main concern for the mission. According to several EU diplomats speaking on the condition of anonymity, the EU hopes to copy what it sees as the success in the parliamentary elections in Moldova last year in which pro-Brussels forces retained power. Two Moldovan opposition parties deemed pro-Russian were disqualified from the vote.
The EU already decided last month to send a separate “hybrid rapid response team” to Yerevan for the upcoming elections. The Armenian government requested the deployment as well after implicitly alleging Russian “hybrid” threats to the integrity of the electoral process. Government officials have not publicly elaborated on those threats.
Armenia’s leading opposition groups are concerned that they too could be barred from running in the polls. Some of their leaders have claimed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is seeking an EU blank check for winning reelection through fraud or foul play.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on March 4 that the EU is gearing up for a repeat of “the Moldovan scenario” in Armenia. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin publicly warned Pashinian against disqualifying pro-Russian opposition groups when they met at the Kremlin on April 1.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin met with the Armenian ambassador in Moscow, Gurgen Arsenian, on Monday. According to a Russian readout of the meeting, they discussed “some pressing issues of bilateral relations in light of the results of the recent Russian-Armenian high-level talks in Moscow.” No details of the discussion were reported.
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Schoolteachers ‘Forced’ To Attend Pashinian’s Concert In Gyumri
- Satenik Kaghzvantsian
An Armenian civic group has accused the ruling Civil Contract party of forcing schoolteachers and kindergarten workers to attend a pre-election concert in Gyumri organized by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Sunday.
Joined by professional musicians, Pashinian and his self-styled pop band performed at the open-air concert in the city’s central square in a clear effort to drum up and/or showcase public support for him ahead of the parliamentary elections slated for June 7.
The premier arrived in the capital of Armenia’s northwestern Shirak province in a motorcade of hundreds of cars carrying his loyalists. The square was only about half full during the show, however, leading Pashinian’s political opponents and some media to conclude that most Gyumri residents ignored the publicity stunt one year after voting to end Civil Contract’s control of their municipality.
An RFE/RL correspondent saw many local government officials from other parts of the country in the crowd. According to Akanates (Witness), an independent group specializing in election monitoring, the spectators also included staff from public schools and kindergartens in Akhurian, a small town just east of Gyumri.
Akanates claimed that they were ordered by Civil Contract’s Gyumri branch to attend the event. Its coordinator, Meri Minasian, on Monday based the claim on the groups “direct monitoring” as well as information received from multiple sources not disclosed by her.
“We have information from several sources about people’s organized participation in the event,” Minasian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Davit Arushanian, the Shirak governor and the ruling party’s regional election campaign manager, flatly denied the Akanates claims. He argued, in particular, that the Civil Contract chapter in Gyumri does not cover Akhurian.
“There was no such coercion or pressure,” insisted Hayk Rushanian, who runs one of Akhurian’s three schools.
Rushanian admitted that he went to Pashinian’s concert together with his schoolteachers, students and their parents.
Pashinian and his party have for years been accused of illegally forcing public sector employees to attend their campaign rallies or other gatherings. They have always denied that.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities are only known to have prosecuted opposition figures on corresponding charges. Billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s opposition movement, which is expected to be Civil Contract’s main election challenger, has been on the receiving end of such criminal proceedings in recent months. As recently as on Monday, police rounded up 22 people in the northern Lori province on suspicion of attending or having others attend a pro-Karapetian rally in Yerevan for money or under duress. They all were set free without charge.
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Ruben Vardanyan Again Blasts Armenian Government
Ruben Vardanyan, a prominent businessman remaining in Azerbaijani captivity along with at least 18 other Armenian prisoners, has accused Armenia’s government of being indifferent to their fate.
In a statement circulated through his family on Tuesday, he also called on the Armenian human rights ombudswoman, Anahi Manasian, to visit the prisoners together with their relatives.
“The failure of the Government of Armenia to act in the interests of its own citizens unlawfully held in Azerbaijan is incompatible with the obligations of the state towards its people,” charged Vardanyan.
“Despite the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries, economic negotiations are currently taking place, with Armenian representatives physically present in Baku,” he said. “Why, then, are questions of the life, health, and rights of prisoners not part of official Yerevan’s agenda — and why has not a single member of any delegation ever visited the detainees?”
“In light of the above, I urge you to consider organizing a visit to Baku with your participation, and, under appropriate conditions, with the participation of relatives of Armenian prisoners as well. My wife, Veronika Zonabend, has expressed her readiness to take part in such a trip, as have, in all likelihood, representatives of other families,” he added, appealing to Manasian.
In Vardanyan’s words, Manasian’s Azerbaijani counterpart, Sabina Aliyeva, has “expressed readiness to facilitate such a visit.” He revealed that he met with Aliyeva recently to raise with her concerns regarding his and the other captives’ prison conditions.
Vardanyan, who held the second-highest post in Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership from November 2022 to February 2023, was arrested at an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin corridor in September 2023 as he fled the region along with its practically entire ethnic Armenian population. Seven other former Karabakh Armenian leaders were also arrested during the exodus that followed an Azerbaijani military offensive.
Five of them were sentenced to life imprisonment while the two others as well as Vardanyan received 20-year jail sentences in February at the end of yearlong trials denounced by Amnesty International as a “travesty.” They all denied a long list of accusations brought against them.
The Armenian government has still not officially reacted to the trials, stoking opposition allegations about its complicity in the continuing captivity of these and 11 other Armenians held in Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other Armenian officials insist that Yerevan has been doing its best to try to secure their release. Vardanyan’s American lawyer, Jared Genser, has repeatedly disputed those claims.
Pashinian was accused by his domestic critics of helping Baku legitimize Vardanyan’s continuing imprisonment with his scathing comments about the 57-year-old billionaire and philanthropist made in August 2024. Vardanyan hit back at Pashinian from an Azerbaijani jail in September 2024. In another statement circulated by his family in March 2025, he criticized the Armenian government’s appeasement policy towards Azerbaijan and accused it of spreading hate speech against the Karabakh Armenians.
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RFE/RL – More Armenian Churches In Karabakh Feared Destroyed By Azerbaijan
- Susan Badalian
Azerbaijani authorities appear to have demolished Nagorno-Karabakh’s main Armenian cathedral and another church in Stepanakert, according to online imagery cited by exiled Karabakh activists in Yerevan.
One of them, Sergei Shahverdian, showed on Monday fresh videos of central Stepanakert posted by Azerbaijani social media users. The Karabakh capital’s imposing Holy Mother of God Cathedral was not visible in them.
“Artsakh’s Mother Cathedral at the top of Nelson Stepanian Street is missing. The same video also shows it missing from another angle,” said Shahverdian, who had served as Karabakh’s culture minister and now runs a nongovernmental organization campaigning for the preservation of the depopulated region’s cultural and spiritual heritage.
“It’s obvious that the Azerbaijanis have destroyed it,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The information could not be confirmed from independent sources. The Azerbaijani government has blocked independent media access to Karabakh since its recapture of the territory in 2023. Shahverdian said he is now awaiting satellite images to conclude definitively whether the cathedral has been demolished.
The cathedral was consecrated in 2019 after almost 13 years of construction. Its underground section was used by many Stepanakert residents as a bomb shelter during the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
News of its apparent disappearance came just days after Armenian media published photographs suggesting that another, smaller Armenian church in Stepanakert has been razed to the ground. According to Lernik Hovannisian, who heads the Diocesan Council of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Azerbaijani government has been demolishing buildings in Karabakh on the grounds that they were “illegally” constructed after 1994.
“Under this guise, it was only natural that after the destruction of the Church of St. Jacob, they will also move on to the Holy Mother of God Cathedral,” said Hovannisian.
Several other Karabakh Armenian churches were already reportedly torn down after the 2020 war. Also, Baku announced in early 2022 plans to erase Armenian inscriptions from medieval Karabakh churches. The then head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Maenza, expressed serious concern over the decision. The European Parliament likewise condemned “the elimination of the traces of Armenian cultural heritage in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.”
The Armenian government essentially stopped accusing Baku of systematically desecrating or destroying Armenian monuments in Karabakh in 2023. It did not react to the latest indications of more church demolitions there, drawing criticism from Armenian opposition figures.
By contrast, the Armenian Church has remained vocal about the destruction of its properties in Karabakh. Its supreme head, Catholicos Garegin II, decried that during a conference hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Switzerland last May. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian launched his controversial campaign to oust Garegin shortly after that conference.
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Iran is ready for the resumption of war and has prepared “new surprises”
Iran is fully prepared for a possible resumption of hostilities and has prepared “new surprises” for a potential new phase of the war. reports the Iranian Tasnim agency.
According to the agency, in the last two weeks, Iran assessed the probability of the resumption of war as high and in this regard carried out a number of military movements and compiled a new list of targets. As a pretext, the American demands and the established sea blockade are mentioned, which, according to the Iranian side, did not allow to resume the negotiations.
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We did not demand the recognition of the genocide, but we also did not deny the past
We have never put a demand for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide on the state policy agenda. ANC Prime Minister candidate Levon Zurabyan wrote about this on his Facebook page.
In particular, he noted: “But we have never denied our past and memory. That was the reason why the Armenian Genocide Museum was built in 1995 and the international scientific conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary was held with the participation of world-famous genocide scholars.
We have not and will not turn the Armenian Genocide into a political game that harms the interests of our state, but we will not allow anyone to erase the memory and identity.
On April 24, at 11 o’clock, we will go together to the Armenian Genocide Memorial.”
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RA MFA congratulated Israel on Independence Day
RA MFA congratulated the government and people of Israel on the occasion of Independence Day.
“Armenia is ready to expand RA-Israel ties and explore new opportunities for cooperation,” the message states.
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“Land of Living” and “Strong Armenia” signed a memorandum uniting themselves
“Land of Living” and “Strong Armenia” parties have signed a memorandum, combining political, organizational and human potential.
In this regard, the statement of the “Land of Living” party says:
“The Republic of Armenia is facing serious security, political and value system challenges that require nationwide consolidation, responsibility and clear political will.
Emphasizing the above, the “Aprelu Yerkir” party and the “Strong Armenia” alliance of parties signed a memorandum according to which they combine their political, organizational and human potential, forming a unified political agenda in order to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and ensuring the active involvement of the regional teams of the “Aprelu Yerkir” party within the framework of the “Strong Armenia” alliance of parties by being included in the latter’s electoral list.
Cooperation is based on:
The fundamental importance of the Republic of Armenia as a free, independent, sovereign and democratic state,
The indisputable priority of the return of Armenian prisoners, the most important precondition for the restoration of national dignity and the establishment of a just and stable peace,
The exceptional role of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church throughout the history of the Armenian people as a pillar of national identity, faith, unity and statehood.
The imperative of restoring trust between the state and the people, strengthening national solidarity, as well as the effective consolidation of the pan-Armenian potential between Armenia and the Diaspora.
“Aprelu Yerkir” party assumes its responsibility for the changes in the country.
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Verelq: Significant and symbolic. Armenian society has a chance for a new history
It’s no secret that the initiative to create the Living Country Party comes from Ruben Vardanyan, who is one of our compatriots who is currently being held hostage in Baku. The symbolism of the agreement between Samvel Karapetyan’s alliance and Aprelu Yerkir Party is certainly not due to that circumstance alone.
There is an equally significant and important circumstance, important in a broad sense. In fact, Ruben Vardanyan and Samvel Karapetyan are two major holders of Armenian capital on an international scale, who assume responsibility and responsibility for the Armenian statehood, for the landmark development prospects of that statehood.
By and large, it is not important what the chronological sequence and format of the manifestations is. The fact itself is very important, which, in my subjective opinion, could have happened much earlier, but due to some developments, it remained “half-finished”. Those developments were the events of 2018.
And earlier, the change of government in 2016, when Karen Karapetyan was appointed prime minister in Armenia in September. His close partnership relationship with Samvel Karapetyan is known. And Ruben Vardanyan published an article after his appointment in 2016, in which it was clearly stated that if Karapetyan’s appointment fails, Armenia may not have a second chance for a breakthrough. By and large, it was during that period that a fairly significant environment of commitment and responsibility towards the perspective of Armenian capital and Armenian statehood was formed.
Moreover, I am not giving my assessment on it now. I made my assessment right then as an opportunity to really make a breakthrough. Of course, later on, I repeat, the development of events went in a known direction, which created the opportunity and logic of another opportunity, which, however, ended with a heavy defeat and losses.
In no way do I want to equate Samvel Karapetyan’s Alliance-Aprelu Yerkir partnership with the occasion of 2016, let alone leave the impression of history repeating itself. However, the Armenian community has the opportunity for a new history, in the context of which I consider the agreement reached today to be truly significant and symbolic. No doubt it is not enough, but it is a certain tangible pillar to develop the overall structure.
Analyst Hakob Badalyan
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