May 7, 2026
Head of the security team of the “Strong Armenia” party, colonel-investigator Arthur Avanesyan (Kandaz) on March 31 remindedr: Taken during Anna Hakobyan’s visit to Tavush on April 1, 2023 the statement that 11,000 deserters was during the 44-day war, then he emphasized. “Our soldiers are not deserters, they fought like lions.”
Anna Hakobyan did not respond to the detective’s reminder, writing: “I cannot remember this person during the 44-day war. It would definitely have caught my eye, and of course it would have impressed me, I would hardly forget it. And the degree of his awareness about the war and the degree of awareness about the sensational news of just one month old in Inner Armenia are directly comparable. Obviously, he has no idea (news) from both of them.”
There have certainly been desertions during the 2020 war, but the question is, how many, from the regular army or from casual battlefield reservists and volunteers, and what prompted it?
In her post, Anna Hakobyan seems to question the fact that the soldier is not a deserter, the degree of awareness of others on such sensitive issues, we do not doubt that she possesses a serious information base.
Moreover, it is possible that, like Nikol Pashinyan, neither the 44-day investigation commission nor the law enforcement agencies have a lot of information in his hands. Why?
Doesn’t possessing such a volume of information base and not fully transferring it to the relevant authorities imply specific responsibility?
On April 1, we sent written requests to the RA Investigative Committee, the RA General Prosecutor’s Office, and the RA Ministry of Defense in order to obtain new data related to the desertion.
From the structure headed by Artur Poghosyan reported that they do not have “up-to-date” data on desertions during the 44-day war.
Anna Vardapetyan too informed that on the charges of voluntarily leaving the military unit or the place of service, desertion and refusal to fulfill the duties of military service Six years after the 44-day war, a guilty verdict was passed 410 about the person.
And the Ministry of Defense responded to our written request by violating the 30-day deadline. We tried to find out from the Ministry of Defense how many cases of desertion were recorded between September 27 and November 9, 2020, what information did the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces have, were there 11-12,000 deserters, and how many of them are related to the regular army and how many to the reserve army?
After more than 30 days, in response to our questions, Suren Papikyan stated that they are “outside the jurisdiction of the RA Ministry of Defense”.
How to understand whether there were no deserters from the regular army or… one thing is clear: the Minister of Defense at least does not confirm Anna Hakobyan’s claim or suspicion regarding desertion from the regular army.
It should be noted that on April 11, 168.am provided exclusive information and published documents Regarding cases of desertion and desertion among police officers and prison officers during the 44-day war.
And in our written request addressed to the Ministry of Defense, we also included the following questions:
– During the 44-day war, where was Anna Hakobyan before the formation of the “Erato” squad, was she given any assignment, is there any information about where she could see or not see detective Artur Avanesyan, Kandaz, was Anna Hakobyan assigned any intelligence tasks?
– Where was the “Erato” squad during the 44-day war?
– Where, when and for how long was Ashot Pashinyan’s squad during the 44-day war and did it carry out combat operations? And when did his squad retreat from Alpasha Hill?
Before the formation of the “Erato” detachment, in response to the question regarding the actions of Anna Hakobyan during the war, Suren Papikyan again noted that they were “outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia”. And during that period, Hakobyan was at the command post, remotely watching the ongoing combat operations, while being a leader The documents clearly state: who are entitled to it.
“In general, according to the governing documents, permanent or temporary permits are issued to enter relevant officials performing operational duties at command points,” the Ministry of Defense stated in its response to our written inquiry in 2024, when we asked to clarify who, according to the regulations, can enter the command point. After all, Anna Hakobyan is not the only one who entered the “forbidden area”.
Regarding the operations of the “Erato” detachment during the war, the place of deployment, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia stated in its letter:
“The “Erato” detachment, like other volunteer detachments, was included in the newly formed military units (units) in the Armed Forces, was equipped and came under the command of the commander of the 1st Army Corps.”
Note that there is nothing new in this answer, more so in 2023 168.amin response to the written request of the RA Ministry of Defense gave details that 2020 on October 25 equipped and came under the command of the commander of the 1st Army Corps, the squad was first deployed in the area of Hartashen village, and then in the N combat position of Kornidzor.
And in June 2021, in the city of Abovyan, Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the “combat” actions of his wife Anna Hakobyan’s “Erato” squad, announced:
“After Stepanakert, when I say this is Sardarapat, you have to stop. my wife forms a women’s volunteer squad, and they go to Sisian, undergo combat training and go and stand in the trenches of Goris. What is wrong here, betrayal? They should have been in the salons for it to be true.”
What this gave in the context of hostilities is not difficult to guess, if not what it “took”.
Let us add that during the 44-day war, the commander of the 1st Army Corps of the RA Armed Forces was General Zhirayr Poghosyan, who seems to be only a witness in criminal cases.
Regarding Ashot Pashinyan’s volunteer action, Suren Papikyan reminded that information about this was already reported in 2023. Yes, some data provided by: where was he, when did he return from Artsakh, who was the commander?
But we still did not manage to find out, also this time, during the 44-day war in Jrakan and Kubatli, when was Ashot Pashinyan, how long did he stay and what combat operations did he participate in, when did he leave those areas?
Agree that the chronology and concreteness of the events can suggest a lot, especially when during the court session in the case of the former First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan you find out that Ashot Pashinyan’s detachment may have something to do with the retreat from Alpasha Hill.
By the way, yesterday, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs Andranik Kocharyan remembered Tiran Khachatryan from the rostrum of the Parliament, moreover, against the background of the statements of the former RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan regarding the 44-day anniversary.
“The responsibility of the southern direction was on confederate Tiran Khachatryan, who was accidentally injured again, and we had failures in the south. You can ask Tiran Khachatryan questions in a closed alliance format: how did that happen? It’s all in the report, please read it. And there are videos, and they substantiate what I said,” Andranik Kocharyan stated.
We will still try to find out in what “tone” the general is mentioned in the 44-day report. And today, Seyran Ohanyan added another one to his recent announcements, stating:
“Certainly, the responsibility must be borne by those people who, seeing the whole retreat, encouraged the way of the whole retreat. It refers to today’s leader of the country, and to the then president. He himself says what was presented to him for the titles of general and heroes, he himself presented it to the president. Do you not know your duties, or what kind of task he has performed? If somewhere on the battlefield, a counterattack was organized, then let that captain, sergeant, private get the title of hero.”
In the context of “sticking” Nikol Pashinyan, so to speak, isn’t the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia indirectly targeting Tiran Khachatryan, the former Deputy Chief of Staff of the RA Armed Forces, who was in charge of the southern direction, and Onik Gasparyan, who proposed to give him the title of National Hero, whose “attributes” Tiran Khachatryan did not even take?
And it is very interesting that in these days and in the mentioned context, Seyran Ohanyan never remembered Ashot Pashinyan’s detachment, which could have something to do with the retreat from Alpasha hill. This is a separate discussion topic.
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Inflation eats up Pashinyan’s “increased” pensions
May 7, 2026
The economic reality of Armenia once again breaks the propaganda image of “economic success” built by the government over the years.
While Nikol Pashinyan’s government continues to talk about economic activity, “unprecedented growth”, increased pensions, the ordinary citizen faces a completely different reality in his daily life: constant price increases, decreasing purchasing power and social uncertainty. The latest data published by the RA Statistical Committee prove that in 2026 in March, the 12-month inflation was already out of the acceptable range for the second month in a row (2-4%). 3.3% inflation in January already became 4.2% in February, and in March it increased even more, reaching 4.5%.
If in February, some people tried to present the situation as a temporary phenomenon, now it is obvious that quite worrying and dangerous trends are forming within the economy. Against the backdrop of government announcements about high economic activity, demand-driven price pressures are actually maintained, and in the conditions of regional tension, supply-related risks are also deepening. In other words, the talk about “sustainability” can be considered as a fairy tale that an attempt is made to impose on the public.
The most worrying thing is that according to the Council of the Central Bank of RA in 2026 The official report of the May 5 session: 12-month normal inflation has already reached 4.7%of This means that even the seasonal price reduction of fruits and vegetables cannot control the general inflation. In other words, price increases have become profound and widespread. It seems that the RA citizen should spend less in these months, taking into account that the heating season is over, and utility bills logically decrease relatively, but the fact of inflation, along with non-increasing incomes, simply empties citizens’ wallets.
Such a situation is an indicator of the failure of economic policy, because every, even small, fluctuation in the region has a serious consequence on the economy of Armenia. this is the result of an economic policy that is exclusively dependent on external factors. By the way, the Central Bank Council in 2026 in the session of May 5, it did not change the refinancing rate of 6.5%, which has remained unchanged for about 5 months, until 2025. from December 16. It turns out that the government is trying to gain time during the pre-election period, avoiding tough but necessary decisions.
It is obvious that the current government, in all probability, already felt that in the case of such dynamics of inflation, it will be difficult to control the wave of social dissatisfaction rising among the public. That is why it was suddenly decided to increase the minimum pension by 10,000 drams before the elections. Moreover, that decision was so hasty and populist that even some officials of the ruling team learned about it at the last moment. What is this, if not a classic pre-election bribery?
This decision is miles away from being a long-term social policy solution. And even after this step, Pashinyan’s government could not fulfill its programmatic promise to equalize the average amount of the pension to the value of the consumer basket. Instead, the government began to artificially “fill” the missing money, pretending that the money returned from non-cash transactions through the cashback mechanism (repayment of pension and benefits) supposedly solves the problem. However, the government forgets to mention the most important thing: thousands of pensioners do not use cashback at all, they do not have the skills and knowledge to actively use bank cards, and in the case of rural settlements, making purchases with cashless transactions is simply limited.
The current situation is dangerous not only in the economic sense, but also in the political sense. On the one hand, the incomes of the citizens are not sufficient to withstand the increase in prices, on the other hand, the government continues to engage in short-term propaganda measures, trying to maintain the minimum level of social tolerance until the elections. The most dangerous thing is that the current inflation indicators still do not fully reflect the impact of those “pre-election gifts”. This means that in the coming months the citizen of Armenia may face a harsh reality․ the new inflation will simply “swallow” the noisy increases in pensions, and the government’s promises will again remain only on paper.
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And what did Armenia gain… and the consequences will be visible in the near future
May 7, 2026
The extravagant promises made by European officials to Armenia will certainly be forgotten after the elections. Instead, Armenia and the Armenian people may pay a very heavy price for the various anti-Russian and pro-Ukrainian statements made.
What happened in Armenia in the form of Euro summits was a political theater aimed at turning Armenia into a geopolitical theater on the one hand, and on the other hand at supporting the reproduction of Nikol Pashinyan. After successfully ratifying the recognition of Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan and depopulating Artsakh, they probably came to save Armenia in the same way.
From all of this, Armenia and the Armenian people may suffer much greater losses than the benefits of extravagant promises. The business is already suffering those losses. What will happen after all this, we will see in the near future. And if it suddenly turns out that after all this, Armenia faces much more serious problems with one of its main economic and trade partners, we should not be surprised.
The question is, who will come to our aid at that time? The European bureaucrats who can’t even solve the economic issues of their country?
Or will Macron save? Macron can save the economy of France, solve the social issues of the French people, who raise a social revolt day by day against Macron’s governments.
We see what kind of “super powerful” commercial and economic partner France is for Armenia. Only 1 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade is with France, which is so friendly to us. Exports from Armenia to France do not even reach 10 million dollars per year.
Before making political statements regarding the Armenian elections and Nikol Pashinyan’s defense, let Macron say what he has done all these years to expand and develop the economic relations between Armenia and France, to what extent he has created favorable conditions and opportunities for the import and sale of Armenian products in the French market, and to assist in reducing dependence on other markets, which also creates problems for the economy of Armenia with one of its main trading partners through political statements.
If tomorrow the Armenian business problems deepen in this market and Armenian products are pushed out, what will Macron and the European officials do? Or do you think they will open their markets to the Armenian economy and Armenian products? Today, only 8-9 percent of exports from Armenia belong to the entire European Union. It is about 650-700 million dollars per year. In the event that only the share of the Russian market in exports reaches 30-35 percent. By nominal value, it is 4-4.5 times more than in the case of the whole of Europe.
In recent years, even the former preferential regimes have been abolished for the sale of Armenian products in the European markets. And it turned out that now fewer goods from Armenia reach the European markets than years ago.
After all this, they make such loud statements about supporting Armenia’s economy, as if something big will change.
They have been talking about a financial assistance program for years. It is about 2021. it is about the announced 2.5 billion euro investments, which should have been completed by now. But even today they are trying to feed the Armenian people with the same 2.5 billion euro investments. In the EU-Armenia declaration adopted at the Yerevan summit, it was written that within the framework of the “global gateways” strategic plan, EU investments in Armenia are expected to reach 2.5 billion euros. We are talking about the same investments. At least what was said about the investment was an investment. they are mainly loans, namely expensive commercial loans taken from different banks.
And all this is said again on the eve of the elections.
2021 On the eve of the elections, they announced the investment of 2.5 billion in Armenia. Now they are doing the same thing on the eve of the elections to be held on June 7.
As then, so now they do this to show political support to Nikol Pashinyan. It is not important how far these plans will be implemented in the future. The important thing, as in 2021, is to ensure the reproduction of Nikol Pashinyan. And on that way, they are ready to promise Armenia golden mountains.
Once Nikol Pashinyan promised to flood Armenia with investments, and now the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. He says: we want to make Armenia the main country for investments.
“Today, the EU adopted a statement calling on businessmen to invest in the economy of Armenia, since independence, Armenia was considered a risk zone for investments throughout the preceding period. This is also a fact of historical significance, because never before have we sent such a call, such a message, we have not heard from many of our international partners,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Yerevan.
Ursula von der Leyen is probably not aware that at one time, even without such calls, large investments were made in “Armenia, which is considered a risk zone for investments”.
Investments almost stopped, even began to go back during the prime ministership of Nikol Pashinyan. And it’s not like today investors are standing in line waiting for Ursula von der Leyen or the EU to call for investors to flock to Armenia.
Nikol Pashinyan used to deceive the people with such lies, and now the European officials are doing the same. Before making such calls, it would be good if they asked themselves whether they would come to Armenia to invest, when investors and investments here are defenseless against the authorities’ arbitrariness, they can easily take away the property of a large businessman and investor. Or do the European officials and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, not know about this? What kind of investments can we talk about in a country where big investors are forced to take out a share of their property for the government?
Nikol Pashinyan also gives hope to the people that the EU has called to invest in Armenia. With calls to make investments, they flooded the economies of their countries with investments a long time ago, created an opportunity to breathe, otherwise they are already in a state of paralysis.
HAKOB KOCHARYAN
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168: The European Union manages repression in Armenia. Hrant Mikayelyan
May 7, 2026
The European Union not only does not notice the repressions and political persecutions carried out in Armenia by the current government, but also manages the repressions in Armenia. About this 168 TVof Revue announced on the air of the program political scientist Hrant Mikayelyanthespeaking about the European summits held in Yerevan this week and the European leaders not addressing the human rights situation in Armenia.
First of all, the political scientist is very interested in the assessment of lawyers on the question that Nikol Pashinyan, with his statement today, formulated a problem in the National Assembly that the three opposition forces, “Strong Armenia”, “Armenia” alliance and PAP, do not overcome the necessary electoral threshold to enter the parliament, how many articles of the RA criminal code did he violate?
“With these statements, Pashinyan simply shows his intention that he should not hold elections, but should manipulate the electoral process in such a way that he wins, regardless of what the people want. Meanwhile, he used to announce that “if the people demand it, I will resign…” etc., but one line remained unchanged. In 2018, he declared: “If I don’t become the prime minister, Armenia will not have a prime minister”, and even now one of the slogans of his election campaign, which has already been posted on posters, is:
“There is no Armenia without Pashinyan.” In other words, they threaten to eliminate Armenia. This is how I understand it, because there is a question of removing Pashinyan, Pashinyan’s rating is quite low, and they say, “without Pashinyan, there is no Armenia.” And so, I think this situation shows that Pashinyan has really become a serious threat to Armenia and does not even realize what statements he is making, completely controlling the legal system and not realizing to what degree he violates all norms and the legal nature of the state,” commented Hrant Mikayelyan.
The political scientist adds that Pashinyan has received sociological data, according to which his rating is quite low, so he is taking various measures in order to ensure the re-election of his party, for example, large-scale bribery of the population is taking place in the country.
“They are trying to bribe everyone. For example, recently, 30,000 drams were distributed to 3,700 workers at the National Agricultural Research Service. Now is it an election bribe or not?” the interlocutor says.
Under the influence of the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit held in Yerevan on May 4 and 5 and the inaugural Armenia-European Union summit, the topic of discussions on the issue of Armenia’s European integration and adopted as a result of the Armenia-EU summit joint declaration referring to the content, the political scientist emphasizes that the European Union does not have a proposal for Armenia, and the issue of Armenia’s membership in the EU is not really on the agenda. According to Mikayelyan, all these declaratory statements and beautiful wordings are made just to blow dust in people’s eyes and to show pre-election support to Nikol Pashinyan.
The political scientist also emphasizes that the most important task of Armenia is to ensure the security of the state, and the European Union cannot ensure the security of Armenia.
“This event was mainly of a propaganda nature, so that Pashinyan would be re-elected, because, for example, two years ago in Great Britain, a similar event, the summit of the European Political Community, was held in July. Who prevented this event from being held, for example, on July 15? In that case, no one would say that the European Union interferes in the affairs of Armenia,” says Hrant Mikayelyan.
According to the political scientist, Armenia has already become a stage of geopolitical struggle, and it contains serious dangers. The political scientist makes this assessment in connection with the holding of the European summits and all the noise surrounding them.
“Undoubtedly, Armenia is already a stage of geopolitical struggle. Firstly, independently of his will, because since 2014, when the conflict between the West and Russia became an undeniable reality, Armenia’s complementary foreign policy became very problematic, and it was almost impossible to maintain it, and so to speak, maintaining an independent political course required certain other steps, which are already overdue. Anyway, the fact that Armenia has become a theater of geopolitical struggle, I can list some of its consequences. The first, the so-called “velvet revolution” of 2018 is a consequence of the geopolitical struggle.
Second, the loss of Artsakh in the 2020 war is also a consequence of the geopolitical struggle. Thirdly, the ongoing economic pressures of Russia on Armenia. We still have a lot to lose and a lot to preserve, somewhere to rediscover. It all depends on the right foreign policy…
All these steps presuppose a much different foreign policy than is practiced today. And to go, hunt for smiles or hunt for personal benefits – this is not state foreign policy, this is just a game of political theater”, Hrant Mikayelyan comments.
According to the prediction of the political scientist, if the possible change does not come from within the country, then it will be influenced by external processes. “Because this conflict we were talking about is getting worse and worse…”
Full interview in the video.
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RFE/RL – Armenia And The Disappearing Mountain
Armenia And The Disappearing Mountain
May 06, 2026 14:48 CET
- By Amos Chapple
Khor Virap Monastery, with Mount Ararat, known in Turkish as Mount Agri, in the background Photo: Amos Chapple (©)
Something seems to be missing from Armenia’s new biometric passport. That’s according to many in the country, who have flagged an unusual image in the document.
Among pages showcasing Armenia’s heritage and culture is a picture of Khor Virap. The 17th century monastery is famous largely for its spectacular backdrop of Mount Ararat. In the passport, however, the monastery is depicted from an angle showing only nondescript mountains on the horizon. Critics have called the unusual image a “ploy” to avoid including Ararat in the official document.
Mount Ararat is situated inside Turkey and officially known by its Turkish name Mount Agri, but the landmark rises prominently above Yerevan on clear days.
The 5,100 meter mountain was a part of ancient kingdoms of Armenia, but ethnic Armenians were driven from settlements around Ararat amid the Ottoman state-led killings, which have been recognized as genocide by dozens of countries including the United States. When borders in the region were redrawn following World War I, Ararat’s twin peaks were included within the eastern edge of modern Turkey.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian recently hinted at the controversy over the passport depiction of Khor Virap, saying during a live stream with Interior Minister Arpine Sargsian that, “we’ve chosen such a perspective to suit our policies and what we have discussed for a long time.”
“Given it is the passport of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinian added, the passport reflects “the territory of the Republic of Armenia.”
The absence of the mountain in the passports, which are set to be rolled out in the fall of 2026, follows a government decision late last year to remove snow-capped icons of Mount Ararat from passport stamps. That decision led to an uproar in the country, including a lawsuit filed against the government.
Opposition politician Hayk Mamijanian condemned the removal of the mountain from passport stamps at the time, telling reporters “it never ceases to amaze how zealously Pashinian is ready to please Turkey or Azerbaijan.”
Since Azerbaijan’s military recapture of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023, Armenia has sought to normalize relations with neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey, both historic foes of Armenia.
Armenia and Azerbaijan initialled a peace agreement in 2025 that includes a clause indefinitely forbidding either country from making territorial claims on the other. Turkey, a close ally of Baku, has long objected to Armenia’s use of Ararat as a national symbol, including in the coat of arms of the Soviet Republic of Armenia.
Joshua Kucera, a senior analyst for International Crisis Group, says the Khor Virap image appears to be, “part of the larger ‘real Armenia’ narrative that [Pashinian] is promoting, trying to refocus Armenians’ attentions to the issues within their own borders rather than ‘historical Armenia’ outside its borders.”
The Caucasus expert says that reframing effort also includes the recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Some fear a more consequential target for the Pashinian government could be the current Armenian coat of arms, which features Ararat as its centerpiece, topped with Noah’s Ark. The mythical vessel is believed by some Christians to have settled atop Mount Ararat following the biblical flood. In 2023, Pashinian criticized the emblem for representing “a dichotomy between historical Armenia and real Armenia.”
Edmon Marukian, a politician and former ally of the Armenian prime minister, called the 2025 erasure of Mount Ararat from passport stamps a potential precursor to Armenia’s coat of arms being remade. “Removing [Ararat] would require changing the constitution and the law,” the politician noted, adding, “are we, as citizens, ready to tolerate this?”
In April, RFE/RL’s Armenian Service asked Pashinian about the potential for Ararat to be removed from the coat of arms. The prime minister responded only that “I am not raising such a question.”
Suren Papikyan participated in the opening of the “Defence24 Days” conference in Warsaw
On May 6, Defense Minister Suren Papikyan took part in the official opening ceremony of the “Defence24 Days” conference dedicated to defense and security issues in Warsaw.
RA Ministry of Defense
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The example of Belarusian governance is unacceptable for my country and for me. Allen S
I do not comment. Belarus is Belarus, Armenia is Armenia. I am in charge of my country. NA Speaker Alen Simonyan said this in a conversation with journalists, referring to the note of protest handed to the Chargé d’affaires of Armenia yesterday by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.
Responding to the question whether his statements, since they were the basis of the note, do not further worsen the relations between Armenia and Belarus, Simonyan, in fact, accused Minsk.
“The disrespectful attitude towards Armenia, towards the CSTO partner, towards the statehood of Armenia worsens the relations, preparing a 44-day war with Azerbaijan worsens the relations. The political course is a matter of choice for each state. Human rights and freedoms are the most important values for Armenia. We chose the path of democratization of Armenia, they chose a slightly different path, not like ours.”
Continuing, he emphasized that Armenia will not be a peripheral region, will not be in political dependence and Armenia will raise the level of its sovereignty.
“Belarus’ example of governance is unacceptable for my country and for me,” stated Alen Simonyan. Then he got nervous, retorted to the journalists: “What did you paste from Belarus?”, then added that he had read the news about the protest note in the press and had no other information.
VERELQ wrote that on May 5, Artur Sargsyan, the charge d’affaires of Armenian affairs in Belarus, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, and a note of protest was handed to him regarding “unfriendly steps”. The reason for dissatisfaction of the Belarusian side was the recent statements of the Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, where he stated that Armenia should not be “governed like Belarus”.
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Upcoming Installment of ‘Literary Lights’ Reading Series Features Editor and
The third installment of Literary Lights 2026 will feature the editor and poetry contributors of the landmark anthology, “Remain in Light: Visions of Homeland and Diaspora.” Event host and contributor Shahé Mankerian will be joined by editor Gassia Armenian and fellow Los Angeles-based poets, Tina Demirdjian, Arminé Iknadossian, Arthur Kayzakian and Raffi Joe Wartanian.
The free and virtual event, cosponsored by the Fowler Museum at UCLA, will take place on May 17, at 10 a.m. Register here.
“Remain in Light” endeavors to visualize the contemporary Armenian experience in the homeland and in Los Angeles, home to the largest Armenian population in Diaspora. The first wave of immigrants came to California in the late 1800s; the second was spurred by the Armenian genocide of 1915. Further Armenian migrants, from Soviet Armenia, the Middle East, Iran, and other countries, continue to find solace, pride, and connection in the traditions, customs, religion, language, and memories they brought with them.
Sossi Madzounian, Ara Mgrdichian, and Ara Oshagan, three Diaspora-born Armenian artists living in Los Angeles, share their perspectives on the life of their people in the old world and the new, illuminating the evolving social fabric of Armenian life: survival in the homeland, the immigrant experience in Diaspora, and the rebirth of Armenian Americans on new soil. This book pairs their photographs with poems by LA-based poets Tina Demirdjian, Arminé Iknadossian, Arthur Kayzakian, Shahé Mankerian, and Raffi Joe Wartanian. The volume is a tribute to all these artists, and to Armenians across the globe.
Anthology Editor
Gassia Armenian is a curator and researcher at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, where she conducts collections research and manages exhibitions. She has curated notable exhibitions on Armenian textiles and Diaspora, recognized by the Armenian Academy of Sciences in 2023, and pioneering shows featuring interactive technology. Her current exhibition focuses on the Ifugao people of the Philippines. Previously, she worked with USAID in Armenia on civics education curricula.
Anthology Poetry Contributors
Tina Demirdjian is a poet and teaches poetry in schools and museums in Los Angeles. She is a culture bearer through her art practice, and founder of the Armenian Dress & Textile Project. She is the author of the poetry collection IMPRINT. She is on the Board at Brand Library & Art Center, where she co-facilitates ARTful Conversations in the gallery.
Armine Iknadossian is the author of “All That Wasted Fruit “(Main Street Rag). In 2022, Iknadossian received two grants from the Arts Council of Long Beach to write her second volume of poetry. She has also received fellowships from Idyllwild Arts, The Los Angeles Writing Project and Otis College of Art and Design. She serves on the Advisory Board of IALA.
Arthur Kayzakian is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, “The Book of Redacted Paintings” (Black Lawrence Press, 2023), which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member and serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance. His work has appeared in several publications, including The Adroit Journal, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, The Southern Review, among other journals.
Shahé Mankerian is principal of St. Gregory Hovsepian School in Pasadena and Director of Mentorship at the International Armenian Literary Alliance. A former co-director of the Los Angeles Writing Project, he is the author of “History of Forgetfulness” (2021), a semifinalist for the Khayrallah Prize and finalist for several national poetry awards.
Raffi Joe Wartanian is a writer, musician, and educator who teaches writing at UCLA and serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate in the City of Glendale, California. A 2025-2026 Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, Academy of American Poets, and elsewhere.
Literary Lights 2025 is a monthly reading series organized by the International Armenian Literary Alliance, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research, and the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center. Each event—held online or in-person—will feature a writer reading from their work, followed by a discussion with an interviewer and audience members. Read along with the series by purchasing “Remain in Light” and more titles at IALA’s Bookshop.org storefront
Missed the last Literary Lights 2026 event featuring “Rose by the Sea” author Rebecca Rose Mooradian? Watch the full recording here.
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168: Defense spending is cut, programs are scrapped
May 6, 2026
Nikol Pashinyan rarely tells the truth. One such rarely told truth is that they have stayed in the same class for so many years. It is not difficult to see what is happening in the budget. Every year they promise that they will improve the state of budget execution next year, but nothing changes. Even after eight years, we see that the government is squeezing the economy, instead of implementing the planned programs on time, it takes the money and deposits it in banks. And one of the main reasons for this is the relatively low cost performance.
Almost 30 percent of the expenses of the first quarter of the budget could not be fulfilled.
More than 857 billion drams were planned to be spent, and 603 billion were completed.
254 billion drams or about 680 million dollars were underpaid.
Many important expenditures have underperformed, and, as usual, capital expenditures in particular, and planned capital expenditures on defense.
“2026 in the first quarter, the capital expenditures of the state budget were made by 23.3%, mainly due to the performance of the capital expenditures implemented within the framework of the “Ensuring the Defense of the Republic of Armenia” and “Establishment, Construction, Improvement of Public Education and Preschool Institutions” programs.
Compared to the same period of the previous year, capital expenditures of the state budget decreased by 43.4% (32.6 billion drams) due to the decrease of 63.8% (32.4 billion drams) and 51.2% (3.5 billion drams) of capital expenditures made within the framework of the “Security of the Republic of Armenia” and “Road Network Improvement” programs, respectively,” the Ministry of Finance reported in the report on the implementation of the first quarter of the budget.
They planned to implement more than 182 billion drams of capital expenditures, they made 42.6 billion drams. Performance was only 23.3 percent.
Disgraceful low performance. They spent 4.3 times less than they committed. Almost 77 percent of the planned works were not completed.
Capital expenditures have also significantly declined from the previous year’s level.
Compared to the previous year, capital expenditures decreased by more than 43 percent.
Last year, more than 75 billion drams were spent on capital expenditure. The expenses made this year amounted to barely 42.6 billion drams.
It is not the first year that such a shameful situation has occurred in terms of the timely execution of budget expenditures, especially capital expenditures. CP has been in power for eight years, every year is the same. They could not change the situation in eight years. They could not because they are not competent and do not want to learn. Because of this, first of all, the economy suffers. Planned programs, which should provide not only economic but also social results for the citizens, fall behind.
As a result of every dram not spent on time and every unimplemented project, how many losses the economy and citizens suffer, the government has never calculated or submitted a report. But there is no doubt that these damages are counted in billions of drams, for which no one is responsible.
Unfortunately, it is not the case that only capital expenditures were underperformed. It is a much more shameful situation in terms of the implementation of targeted credit programs.
The performance of targeted credit programs is close to zero. They were fulfilled by only 3.2 percent. 96.8 percent remained unfulfilled.
They planned to implement 14.5 billion dram projects in the first quarter with targeted credit funds. 14 billion of the amount are loans from international financial organizations, which were given to implement certain projects. But these programs are constantly delayed due to such performances. And it is not surprising, if we take into account that out of 14.5 billion, only 500 million drams were planned in 3 months. The remaining 14 billion projects were left hanging in the air, probably thousands of dollars in damages and fines were paid for unrealized loan funds.
The performance of the targeted programs planned with credit funds is in such a state that they are delayed for years. There is no program that they can finish on time and not pay penalties.
Not only the capital expenditures and targeted credit programs, but also the expenditures on benefits and pensions have underperformed. As much as it seems that there should not have been deviations here, they have deviated again.
The performance of expenses was 87.7 percent due, first of all, to less allocations made to the accounts of the participants of the cumulative pension system. The Ministry of Finance did not elaborate on what was the reason for this. But, which is more worrying, the other reason for the under-execution of these expenses is the extremely low performance of the social assistance programs provided to our compatriots who emigrated from Artsakh. Although many are in dire need of this assistance, the cost performance was only 40.9 percent. They didn’t even do half of what was planned.
The situation is the same in terms of implementation of many other expenses. Because of that, the budget underperformance reaches 30 percent. Among those 30 percent are economic and social programs worth hundreds of millions of dollars, which should not only create incentives for the economy, but also contribute to the improvement of the social condition of citizens. But very often, as a result of the incompetence and slowness of the government, they lag behind, delaying the benefits that are expected to be obtained as a result of their implementation.
HAKOB KOCHARYAN
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This is a reason for war… The Caucasus is being raised against Russia. Vardan Hakobyan
May 6, 2026
The liberal-globalists who rule the European Union are trying to make Armenia and the South Caucasus a platform to attack Russia, and raising the Caucasus against Russia is a reason for war, “casus belli”. 168 TVof Revue expressed this belief in an interview with the program Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Minister of the RA, diplomat Vardan Hakobyanthetalking about the European summits held in Yerevan and the announcements made during these events.
“Macron declares that the South Caucasus should not be a place of competition between empires, but with his own declaration he turns it into a battlefield.
If we move on to geopolitical and political issues, we see that with these statements and these steps, Armenia becomes a certain platform… We have often said here that, well, Armenia is not Ukraine with a population of 50 million, not even Azerbaijan, which has a population of approximately 10 million.
But Armenia should play a supporting role rather than an infantry one, and basically it should be a platform for preparing the entire new anti-Russian attack. In all cases, this is what this person says, and by saying it, he hits the interests of all states. Someone can say that the Europeans have their interests too. Yes, for their own interests, they make Armenia a field of confrontation between the power centers of many states. They pursue their own interests.
Even today, the pursuit of that interest becomes the center of contradictions and contradictions, because it can pass military phaseas it happened in Ukraine, that is, if you raise the South Caucasus against Russia, and then also the North Caucasus, and then you go to Central Asia, this cause of war է՝ «casus belli“, and the Russians might not be patient this time for 8 years,” thinks Vardan Hakobyan.
Speaking on the occasion of French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial statements in Yerevan, both about Armenian-French and Armenia-European Union or Armenia-Europe ties, the diplomat emphasizes that first of all, the geopolitical and civilizational sides of the issue should be separated. Vardan Hakobyan is disgusted by the similar expressions of Macron and other liberal-globalists, that until 2018, Armenia was “Russia’s satellite”, and from the “stinking half-truths” expressed by him and emphasizes that historically, for more than 2000 years, Armenia has been connected with European countries, European civilization and culture. According to the diplomat, no one wants to deny this and exclude the Armenian nation from ties with Europe, but the European Union with its current policy and the so-called Eurobureaucracy that manages it is a different story.
“It is true, we were also connected with Iran, but with the Iran of that time, but the predominant one in our history, our self-awareness, national mentality is the European one, and not only, let’s say, European influences, but there was also a time when we influenced Europe, more specifically, after Cilicia, the influence of our culture was very significant. I am saying all this only because these EU supporters want to present as if we or the opposition, as well as individual people, are against the connections with the Europeans or deny those connections.
There is no such thing. Now let’s come from here, that connection that we had, let’s say, from Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece. The traces of Hellenistic culture are still there, aren’t they? Not to mention the most powerful connection with Byzantium. Both Armenia, and Europe at that time, and Russia entered that Byzantine cultural field, until the Ottomans came, captured Constantinople, destroyed the Byzantine Empire, and the history of Europe moved to the West… The same Marx, Engels said that when the Ottomans conquered all of Byzantium, entered Europe, etc., they have this expression:
«After the fall of Constantinople (1453), the Ottomans pushed back the history of Europe by 200 years.“. Indeed, the Europeans were in a very difficult position and development was disrupted. “And the history of Armenians,” they say, “stopped.” That’s their word… If we imagine the map in our mind, the field of development of our history is inseparable from the European field. I am talking about the time when Polis was not occupied yet. Then the Ottoman Empire was created and the Ottoman Empire stopped our history until 1918, or you could say until 1828., when Eastern Armenia at least joined the Christian state, and we were freed from many persecutions,” this is how Vardan Hakobyan analyzes the history.
The diplomat emphasizes that the whole issue is that now we are not talking about that Europe, but about the European Union as a bureaucratic organization, where the leaders, in fact, are not elected by the European peoples.
“These neo-globalists took the leadership positions of the European Union. Do you imagine that a certain von der Leyen or Kaya Kalas would give instructions to Mitterrand or Margaret Thatcher or the leaders of Italy,” the political analyst notes.
According to the diplomat, the goal of the EU bureaucracy is not to make these states and peoples, including Armenia, a member of the European Union, but to use them as they use the Ukrainians.
«Did Ukraine join the European Union?, – Vardan Hakobyan asks a rhetorical question and continues, – Now we can, don’t we, have the right to assume that they want to do the same thing with the Caucasian states and peoples? In other words, if their “idea fix”, the goal of the Nulands and European liberal-globalists is not to keep Europe strong and develop, but the exact opposite.”
Speaking about the Artsakh issue and Russia’s policy, the diplomat recalled his personal contacts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the impression he received.
«Yes, Lavrov is an Armenian, but the man is a Russian politician. Moreover, it fell because during my personal contacts, I saw that he and some of his deputies, for example, Karasin, how hard they take our problems, how much they think about it, how many proposals they make, but there are people who believe that “genocide did not take place”, “it is necessary to count who killed whom”… I myself attended the Russian-Georgian negotiations many times.
The Russians were saying it all the way. “We recognize the territorial integrity of Georgia, but understand: it is not necessary to do this, it is not necessary to do it that way, be patient.” But at the behest of the West, Saakashvili, who is the disgrace of the Georgian people, organized a very theatrical attack on South Ossetia.… The same was said to Armenians. “Come on, let’s see how these developments will go, because the Karabakh issue is in the process of being resolved, one way or another. don’t make statements: Karabakh is ours, and that’s it…”
Let’s remind that on May 4, during the interactive panel discussion of the European Political Community (ECC) summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said:
“Let’s be honest, 8 years ago no one would have come here, and the fact that we have so many first visits to your country is a really good indicator, because 8 years ago, this country was considered by many countries at the table as a de facto satellite of Russia, and Nikol organized the Velvet Revolution, and the country benefited from it.”
And while speaking at the “Yerevan Dialogue” conference held the next day, Macron called on Azerbaijan and Turkey to open their borders with Armenia.
Full interview in the video.
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