RFE/RL – Karapetian Addresses Massive Rally In Yerevan

The massive crowd that filled Yerevan’s Liberty Square chanted “Samvel Prime Minister!” and “Change!” throughout the rally followed by a march through the city center. The demonstration organized by Karapetian’s opposition movement came less than two months before Armenia’s parliamentary elections.

“We must unequivocally win the elections, removing from power the small clique that is shaming our nation, humiliating our state, and destroying the foundations of our statehood,” the Russian-Armenian tycoon said in the video recorded at his Yerevan mansion amid his continuing house arrest.

“Armenia must become a safe, peaceful, rich, and strong country,” he said. “A country where rulers do not empty the budget and fill their own pockets, but on the contrary, empty their own pockets for the sake of the well-being of our homeland.”

Karapetian had issued only written messages to supporters since being arrested in June 2025 right after criticizing Pashinian’s controversial attempts to depose Catholicos Garegin II. He kept doing so even after being moved to house arrest in December. His lawyers have spent the last few weeks checking with law-enforcement authorities whether he is allowed to record any video statements. Aram Vartevanian, a lawyer and political ally of Karapetian, confirmed during Saturday’s rally that his latest address was not AI-generated.

Karapetian said in it that he may be sent back to prison ahead of the June 7 elections. But he insisted that he is undaunted by such a prospect.

The 60-year-old announced plans to challenge Pashinian’s Civil Contract party in the 2026 polls shortly after being arrested and charged with calling for a violent regime change. Investigators also filed tax evasion, fraud and money laundering charges against him in the following days.

Karapetian’s movement, which recently spawned a political party called Strong Armenia, has since emerged as one of the country’s leading opposition forces. Pashinian’s political allies claimed last year Russia is behind his political activities, fueling opposition concerns that Strong Armenia could be barred from running in the upcoming elections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly warned Pashinian against disqualifying this or other ‘pro-Russian’ opposition groups when they met in Moscow on April 1. Six days later, Pashinian’s party hastily pushed through the Armenian parliament legislation that bars Karapetian from giving his name to his opposition alliance. The alliance was named Strong Armenia With Samvel Karapetian when it was unveiled on March 31.

The Moscow talks were also followed by bitter verbal exchanges between Pashinian and Karapetian aides. In particular, the Armenian premier declared that Karapetian “will go from being a billionaire to a tramp” after the elections.

Karapetian and his allies have so far been careful not to make overtly pro-Russian statements. In his video address, the tycoon did not even utter the word “Russia” when pledging to end Russian-Armenian tensions.

“We will be strong in Moscow and we will restore the damaged relations,” he said. “We will be strong in Washington, in London and in Beijing.”

Born and raised in Armenia, Karapetian has mainly lived in Russia since the early1990s, making a huge fortune there estimated by the Forbes magazine at over $4 billion. Under the Armenian constitution, he is not eligible to become Armenia’s prime minister because of his dual Russian citizenship. His political team has pledged to remove this constitutional hurdle in case of its election victory.

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