March: 17, 2026
Until last week, Nikol Pashinyan, the Minister of Justice and the CP members in general did not clearly say that there will be no reference to the Declaration of Independence in the new Constitution. Nikol Pashinyan in a press conference with journalists after the Cabinet meeting last Thursday confirmed.
“There will be no reference to the Declaration of Independence in the new Constitution.”
Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan in a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly on March 2 had saidthat the new text of the Constitution is ready, but there is still no final decision regarding the Declaration of Independence. He also said today that the text of the Constitution will be discussed at the session of the CP department.
Founder of “Njar” constitutional movement, human rights activist Nina Karapetyantsi in my opinion, Nikol Pashinyan should not be given any chance to be re-elected, all legal measures that are allowed both by RA law and international conventions should be used.
“Everyone should take part in the elections, should give an account of what situation we are in and what danger threatens us. This is not about the presence or absence of the Declaration of Independence, this is not about constitutional changes, but about canceling the Republic of Armenia as a state, many people are already talking about this.” 168.amNina Karapetyants said in a conversation with
According to Nina Karapetyants, when the former speak, they try to target them as “pro-Russian” forces, “formers”, etc., but she does not personally represent either the former or the present, nor is she pro-Russian, and continues to insist that Nikol Pashinyan’s proposal can be implemented only in one case: when the statehood of the country is canceled, the Third Republic of Armenia is canceled.
“There is simply no other way to not refer to the Declaration of Independence. Nikol Pashinyan has announced this and has full support from Aliyev, he has exclusive support only from him. And he does not have any support from adequate people inside Armenia, this is the reason why he constantly seeks support abroad and receives support abroad. Naturally, it will be very difficult to fight against this, because Nikol Pashinyan has started using all possible and impossible methods and will continue to use them before the elections,” added Nina Karapetyants.
According to him, Nikol Pashinyan will continue all that after the elections, when people will face a situation where no one will ask the opinion of RA citizens regarding the implementation of Aliyev’s Constitution in RA.
He is sure that it is not possible for Nikol Pashinyan to get 51 percent of votes. “I am sure that he alone cannot gather so many votes, moreover, the political forces that could have supported Nikol Pashinyan with their votes do not have any chance, because they have been ruthlessly discredited and will not enter the National Assembly at all. It is a different matter that Nikol Pashinyan will collect enough votes, including through fraud, pressure, administrative resource and other various machinations. But it will not be enough to form a government. Here comes the next question: will the opposition forces be able to unite and form a coalition in the post-election phase, will they have enough common sense or not, and will they have enough votes or not?
On the other hand, I do not rule out the street struggle at all, the way Nikol Pashinyan came to power on the street. His election in 2018 did not follow the RA constitution, but it was the will of the people gathered on the street. So I think we can do that too, there is nothing illegal about it. If Pashinyan sees something illegal in this, first of all, a criminal case should be initiated against him,” emphasized Nina Karapetyants.
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Trump says ending Iran war will be ‘mutual’ decision with Netanyahu
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that when to end the war with Iran will be a “mutual” decision made with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking by phone with The Times of Israel, Trump said Netanyahu will have input on resolving the conflict.
“I think it’s mutual … a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” said Trump.
Trump claimed that the Islamic Republic would have destroyed Israel if he and Netanyahu had not been around. “Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it… We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel.”
The White House earlier said it expects the military operations against Iran to last from four to six weeks.
The U.S. and Israel launched what they described as a pre-emptive strike against Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran was developing a nuclear weapon and posing a threat—an allegation Iran has denied. In response, Iran launched counterattacks, firing missiles and drones at Israel, as well as at U.S. assets and other targets across the Middle East.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran. Over 10 people have died in Israel, with more than 20 deaths reported in Gulf states across the region.
More than 390 people were killed in Lebanon, where Israel began striking what it describes as Hezbollah targets.
Published by Armenpress, original at
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US Commission on Int’l Religious Freedom prepares a scathing report on Pashiny
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has prepared a scathing report on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church. International lawyer Robert Amsterdam wrote about this.
“I draw your attention to a remarkable passage in the report:
‘Throughout 2025, Prime Minister Pashinyan proposed establishing and personally appointing a council to elect a new Armenian Apostolic Church leader, and elevated clergy who aligned with his agenda to oust the current Catholicos. Pashinyan’s attacks on Catholicos Karekin II coincided with the arrest of AAC clerics and other lay members who had criticized or expressed political opposition to Pashinyan’s government,’” he wrote.
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The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia announced the attempts of external interference in the elections
The Foreign Intelligence Service of Armenia issued a statement regarding the pressures applied to RA citizens in other countries and interference in the expected electoral processes.
“The Foreign Intelligence Service receives intelligence information that acting on behalf of the special services of the given country in another country, various actors are trying to exert pressure on Armenians and persons who are citizens of the Republic of Armenia and are engaged in economic activities in the given country, pushing them to carry out actions to support certain political forces that have applied for participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia, which include, but are not limited to, financial and organizational support actions by the said businessmen to these political forces,” it was said. in the statement.
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France ups military ties with Armenia with first ever visit by a defence minister
France's Sebastien Lecornu travelled to Armenia Thursday on the first trip by a French defence minister to the South Caucasus nation. It comes as tensions rise with Yerevan's historic rival Azerbaijan, and as French President Emmanuel Macron met with Armenia's leader in Paris.
Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu's visit to Armenia follows the induction into the Panthéon of Armenian-born Resistance fighter Missak Manouchian in Paris on Wednesday.
Lecornu's becomes the first French defence minister to visit Armenia, and the European defense minister in about a decade.
France and Armenia signed a letter of intent on air defence in October last year that included the acquisition of three Thales Ground Master (GM200) radars capable of detecting an enemy aircraft up to 250 kilometres away.
France will also provide Armenia with night vision goggles, manufactured by Safran. In addition, the French military will hold three mountain combat training sessions with the Armenian forces later this year.
BREAKING: France is set to deliver a shipment of defensive armaments to Armenia today, February 22, Le Figaro reports.
According to AFP news agency, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu will embark on a two-day visit to Armenia on the same date, marking the first-ever visit… pic.twitter.com/c8Ikzcg4zk
— 301🇦🇲 (@301arm)
- French FM visits Armenia to reaffirm support amid Nagorno-Karabakh crisis
- Armenian Resistance hero Manouchian joins France's Panthéon luminaries
France, with its 600,000-plus Armenian community, profiles itself as a mediator in the conflict over control of the Haut-Karabakh region. In September last year, Azeri forces entered the area, exiling some 100,000 Armenians.
Today, skirmishes between Armenian and Azeri forces continue. France has committed to support Armenia in its defensive efforts.
Armenia is increasingly worried that Azerbaijan, which is wealthier, better-armed and supported by Turkey, might attempt to forcibly link the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan to its territory by invading Armenia's south.
Lecornu's trip comes after French President Emmanuel Macron expressed concern about a "risk of escalation" between Armenia and Azerbaijan as he received Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday.
Pashinyan last week warned that Azerbaijan was preparing for a "full-scale war" with Armenia after decades of tensions over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
On 13 February, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of firing shots at the border, resulting in four Armenian soldier deaths and one injury, according to Yerevan.
During an exchange of fire the day before, one Azeri was wounded.
Kristina Kvien: U.S. stands with Armenia
“The past year has brought challenges to Armenia. Despite this, the US-Armenia partnership is strong and getting stronger,” the Ambassador Kvien said in a video summing up one year of her activity in Armenia.
She noted that the United States stands with Armenia as a partner and friend.
“I work every day to help Armenia thrive as a strong, independent member of the world’s community of democracies,” U.S. Ambassador Kristina Kvien said.
Azerbaijan holds snap presidential vote as Aliyev rides support from retaking of Karabakh
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Azerbaijanis are voting Wednesday in an election almost certain to give incumbent President Ilham Aliyev another seven-year term, following his government’s swift reclaiming of a region formerly controlled by ethnic Armenian separatists.
Aliyev, 62, has been in power for more than 20 years, succeeding his father who was Azerbaijan’s Communist boss and then president for a decade when it became independent after the 1991 Soviet collapse. The next presidential vote was set for next year, but Aliyev called an early election in December, shortly after Azerbaijani troops retook the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian forces who controlled it for three decades.
Analysts suggested Aliyev moved the election forward to capitalize on his burst in popularity following the blitz in Karabakh. He will be in the limelight in November when Azerbaijan, a country which relies heavily on revenues from fossil fuels, hosts a U.N. climate change conference.
Aliyev’s time in power has been marked by the introduction of increasingly strict laws that curb political debate as well as arrests of opposition figures and independent journalists — including in the run-up to the presidential election.
In January, Aliyev told local television channels that he wanted the election to “mark the beginning of a new era,” in which Azerbaijan has full control over its territory. He pointed out that polls would be held for the first time in the Karabakh region after the mass exodus of thousands of ethnic Armenians who fled following the Azerbaijani military offensive.
Speaking before the polls opened at 0400 GMT, 52-year-old Baku resident Sevda Mirzoyeva said she was going to be sure to vote in the election.
“I will vote for the victorious leader Ilham Aliyev,” Mirzoyeva told The Associated Press. Aliyev, she said, “returned our lands, which were occupied for many years. And he also accomplished a lot of things, including for young people.”
There is no limit on the number of terms Aliyev can serve, and there is no real challenge from six other candidates, some of which have previously publicly praised him.
Azerbaijan’s two main opposition parties — Musavat and the People’s Front of Azerbaijan — are not taking part in the vote, and some opposition members have alleged that Wednesday’s vote might be rigged.
Musavat leader Arif Hajili told the AP that the party would not be participating in the elections because they are not democratic.
“Many journalists and political activists are in jail. There are more than 200 political prisoners. There are serious issues with election law and the election commissions are basically under the authorities’ influence,” Hajili said.
Ali Karimli, leader of People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party, has said that calling for an early election without public debate shows that the authorities are afraid of political competition.
In theory, there can be two rounds of voting if a candidate fails to secure more than 50% of the vote in the first round, but Aliyev is widely expected to be reelected in a landslide, as he has been in previous elections.
The elections in Azerbaijan are being held shortly before those in Russia, in which President Vladimir Putin is all but certain to extend his 24-year rule. Analysts have previously speculated that Aliyev is trying to consolidate his own support and minimize possible Russian influence on the elections by holding them at a time when the Kremlin will be preoccupied with its own vote.
Russia, which has developed warm ties with Azerbaijan, is involved in a delicate balancing act as it also is a key ally and sponsor of Armenia, which took in more than 100,000 refugees from the Karabakh region after Azerbaijan retook control of it in September.
In November, Aliyev presided over a military parade in Khankendi, the capital of the region, telling spectators that “we showed the whole world the strength, determination and indomitable spirit of the Azerbaijani people.”
Khankendi, which Armenians called Stepanakert, served as the headquarters of the self-declared separatist government of the territory known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh. The region and sizable surrounding territory came under full control of ethnic Armenians in 1994 at the end of a separatist war.
Azerbaijan regained parts of it and most of the surrounding territory in 2020 after a six-week war, which ended with a Moscow-brokered truce envisaging the deployment of Russian peacekeepers tasked to ensure a transport corridor between Karabakh and Armenia.
However, Azerbaijan began blockading the road in December 2022, leading to severe food and medicine shortages in the Armenian-held area. Then in September, Azerbaijan launched a blitz that forced the separatist forces to lay down arms.
More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the region in the following days, leaving the city and the region nearly deserted and under the full control of Azerbaijan.
https://apnews.com/article/azerbaijan-election-ilham-aliyev-39a3b0811de492afdcc96e2f17b6f797
Asbarez: Zulal Trio Concert at UC Irvine is Sold Out
UC Irvine’s Center for Armenian Studies in partnership with Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts and Culture Initiative will host a sold-out concert of Zulal Trio, featuring Teni Apelian, Anais Alexandra Tekerian, and Yeraz Markarian on February 16.
The event boasts other campus and community partners, including the Orange County Armenian Professional Society.
The concert at UCI’s Winifred Smith Hall will feature the much-loved Zulal, an a cappella trio, which has performed in such esteemed venues as the Getty Museum, the MET, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Berklee College of Music, and the Kennedy Center and has produced four critically acclaimed albums to its credit.
In a packed auditorium, Zulal will transform Armenia’s village folk melodies into arrangements that pay tribute to the music’s ancient roots while allowing it new possibilities. Zulal’s celebration of the trials and joys of old Armenian life, from the echoes of loss to the enduring vibrations of dance and celebration promises to be a unique opportunity for the campus and wider community.
Armenian Studies at UC Irvine includes undergraduate coursework in Armenian history and language, as well as a quarterly lecture series that bridges historical and cultural topics regarding Armenians worldwide.
U.K. Offshore Ownership Registry Reveals Luxury Properties Owned By Armenian Ex-President’s Family
Running along the north bank of the River Thames, Cheyne Walk has been home to many of London’s richest residents. James Bond author Ian Fleming once lived there; so did at least two members of the Rolling Stones.
In 2018, OCCRP’s Armenian partner, Hetq, discovered more denizens of the posh Chelsea neighborhood: the wife and sons of the president of Armenia at the time, Armen Sarkissian, were registered to live in a five-story brick mansion there. The exact ownership of the property was hidden behind an opaque offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Now, reporters have discovered the name behind that company. On paper, the owner of the mansion is Sarkissian’s sister, Karine Sargsyan. Through different offshore companies, she also owns four other high-end London properties worth tens of millions of pounds.
For years, the ownership of these five firms was hidden from public view. But in 2022, the U.K. passed a law requiring offshore firms that own property in the country to declare their beneficial owners, which enabled reporters to discover that Karine was listed as their owner. Two of Sarkissian’s sons were also listed as persons of “significant influence or control” in two of the companies.
“New transparency rules are starting to unveil how the world’s political leaders, including those from countries with serious governance issues, own vast amounts of U.K. real estate via once secretive offshore companies,” Juliet Swann, Nations and Regions Programme Manager at Transparency International U.K., told OCCRP.
Asked for comment on the properties, Sarkissian said that in the 1990s when he first entered public service, he “made the decision to entrust my wealth — earned from developing software and video games — to my sister.” This arrangement included making her the beneficiary of the companies he founded, and hiring professional managers to run them and make investments, he wrote in a response to journalists’ questions.
“Some of them [the investments] were held by companies based in the British Virgin Islands,” Sarkissian wrote. “This was a completely standard set of arrangements for managing wealth on which professional advice and expertise was received. It is largely with the proceeds of these investments that the properties you mention were bought.”
If Armen Sarkissian was the true owner of the London properties, he was required by law to declare them to the Armenian government when he returned to politics in 2013 after a stint in the private sector. But the properties don’t show up in Sarkissian’s asset declarations from 2013 to 2022.
Previous reporting has shown that Sarkissian’s declarations omitted other assets. Hetq has reported that the ex-president held an undeclared directorship of a French company that owned real estate in Paris, and that he shared a secret Swiss bank account with his sister that has held 10 million francs.
Unlike his sister, who spent years working as a doctor at Armenian state hospitals, Sarkissian is a successful businessman who would have little trouble affording luxury properties. In the early 1990s, Sarkissian cashed in on the video game boom, co-inventing the Tetris spinoff Wordtris, which appeared on Nintendo’s popular SNES and Game Boy systems.
U.K company records show that his sons became persons of “significant influence or control” in two of the BVI companies behind two of the London properties as of February 2022, less than a month after Sarkissian abruptly resigned as Armenia’s president.
“In 2022, after my retirement from politics, and as she was approaching her 70s, my sister gifted two properties to my sons, while continuing to own the remainder,” Sarkissian told OCCRP.
Sarkissian’s stated reasons for stepping down from office after four years included his belief that the Armenian presidency lacked the authority to influence important issues, as well as health problems resulting from political “attacks” against him and his family.
He left office just days after receiving questions from Hetq and OCCRP reporters for a story that revealed he held a passport from the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis while in office.
It is a violation of the constitution for an Armenian president to hold foreign citizenship, and authorities are currently investigating whether Sarkissian committed a criminal offense, the Armenian prosecutor’s office told OCCRP.
While working in the private sector prior to his 2013 return to public service, Sarkissian also held British citizenship, U.K. corporate records show. According to a spokesperson, he gave up his British passport as required before being named his country’s ambassador to the U.K. that year.
During his time in the private sector, Sarkissian took up advisory positions at a handful of European foundations and companies, including the French telecommunications giant Alcatel Trade International AG and British Petroleum. He also founded a consulting firm called Eurasia House International.
It was also during this period — between 2000 and 2008, property records show — that four of his family’s five London properties were purchased.
Corporate records show that each of the properties is owned by a separate company registered in the British Virgin Islands. One of these firms owns the five-story brick building on Cheyne Walk, while another owns a neighboring property on the same street. A different firm owns a third-floor flat at Evelyn Mansions, just a 10-minute walk from Buckingham Palace.
Another company owns The Mulberry, a country mansion on the outskirts of London in the affluent village of Virginia Water. The house next door was owned by Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the late Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, until it was confiscated by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office in August.
The purchase prices of two of the properties — one of the Cheyne Walk mansions and the Evelyn Mansions flat — are not publicly available, but according to online real estate databases, they are estimated to be worth a total of at least 6 million British pounds today. The other two mansions were purchased in 2006 and 2008 for a total of 24 million British pounds.
Late last year, Karine Sargsyan declared she was the owner of a fifth property, a central London flat that was acquired by another BVI firm in 2018. Its value is currently estimated at 789,000 British pounds.
Sarkissian told OCCRP that the properties “were not initially purchased at their current high values,” although he did not elaborate on how much his family had paid to buy them.
“The appreciation of their value over the years suggests smart investment rather than, as you seem to imply, extravagant expenditure,” he said, adding that the purchase of “some of the property” was financed by a loan.
Records show a mortgage taken out on 12-14 Cheyne Walk, but it was registered in 2018, a decade after the purchase.
Pro-Artsakh demonstrations held in 50 European cities
10:58,
BRUSSELS, JANUARY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Europeans for Artsakh movement gathered thousands of supporters across Europe on January 28-29 to condemn Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The movement advocates for EU sanctions against Azerbaijan, condemns the ethnic cleansing and genocidal policies of Azerbaijan, demands the immediate release of Armenian POWs and hostages, calls for the defense of Armenia, particularly Syunik, and expresses solidarity with Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and seeks international guarantees for them to live freely and independently in their homeland, safeguarding their fundamental rights.
The ‘Pan-European Mobilization’ demonstrations and events took place in 50 cities across Europe, such as Paris, Vienna, London, Hamburg, Athens, Stockholm and more.
Turkish author Pınar Selek attended the demonstration in Nice, France. She expressed support to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and said she’s ready to fight for Armenia because the world ‘has a debt to pay to Armenia.’
“By protecting Armenia, we will protect justice, dignity and peace,” she said.
Demonstrations took place in Georgia as well, where participants gathered outside the EU representation in Tbilisi.