April 11, 2026
Nicole’s main trump card is, of course, “peace”, but she is busy exploiting peace. From the beginning, it was obvious that the peace he preached did not have any institutional features. They talked about the irreversibility of establishing peace, when only three facts – the presence of prisoners, the unadjusted borders and the unsigned treaty – contradict all these claims. All the weight was placed on the TRIPP document, and that last bubble burst after the start of the Iran war. 168TVof « expressed such an opinion during the program “Democratic Alternative” party chairman Suren Surenyants.
“In case of any outcome of the war, TRIPP loses its relevance, and even if it is not canceled, at least as a document, it will need serious editing. It will not be considered a priority by the White House. Pashinyan also realizes this. If he didn’t know, he wouldn’t have asked Putin for a meeting at this pre-election stage. He understands very well that no matter what he says, all his bubbles, including the main one, peace, have burst. “Now he is trying to weave a new legend by meeting with Putin, but that didn’t work out for him either,” said the opposition figure.
“During the meeting between Putin and Pashinyan, we heard an unusual conversation for our ears. A very legitimate question arises: what did this person rely on, only an apathetic society? His only supporter is not even Aram Sargsyan, because all those political bubbles managed to burst perfectly before the start of the election cycle, especially in the context of the Iran war. In our society, there were illusory ideas about the humanitarian West, but they obviously came to nothing,” said the politician.
According to Suren Surenyants, our society has begun to rethink a number of illusions that were widespread even a year ago.
“Putin had several pragmatic reasons for addressing Artsakh during his meeting with Pashinyan. He sent a message to Baku, and that message was understood there. Putin plays the Artsakh issue in a more global picture when he needs it. But he also sent a message to the Armenian people. Putin clearly said that they will no longer tolerate Armenia sitting on two chairs. There was a diplomatic speech that we heard from Putin’s lips, but there was also a very dry text delivered by Overchuk.”
“The Russians strictly warned: don’t put the destruction of Artsakh in our pockets anymore. Nikol Pashinyan does not understand that he is the one who puts an end to the conflict. As the leader of the conflicting party, he himself signed a document on the termination of the main dispute of the conflict. Even the document of November 9, which was a fairly balanced document for defeated Armenia, did not predetermine the status of Nagorno Karabakh, on the contrary, it fixed the subjectivity of Nagorno Karabakh with several parameters, for example, the contact line,” said Suren Surenyants.
Details in the video
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Armenia pushes semiconductor ambitions as part of high-tech growth strategy
Armenia is stepping up efforts to develop its semiconductor industry as part of a broader push to transform its economy through high technology, officials said following a government council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Draft state programmes presented at the meeting outlined plans to expand semiconductor research and development, strengthen engineering capacity and build a competitive ecosystem by the early 2030s. Officials said the initiative aims to position Armenia within a rapidly growing global industry increasingly driven by demand from artificial intelligence.
Deputy parliament speaker Hakob Arshakyan said the proposals build on a cooperation agreement signed with the United States last August, which includes support for semiconductors, robotics and AI development.
Presentations to the council highlighted Armenia’s existing base of R&D centres and outlined plans to boost talent development, infrastructure and industry partnerships. Officials said expanding human capital would be central to increasing the sector’s economic contribution.
Separate proposals focused on robotics and artificial intelligence, which policymakers described as key drivers of global technological competition. Plans include attracting specialists, setting research priorities and fostering collaboration between academia and industry.
Deputy High-Tech Industry Minister Ruben Simonyan said work was ongoing on a wider strategy for the tech sector, centred on advanced engineering and digital systems as core pillars of growth.
Council members called for closer alignment between the proposed programmes and existing government initiatives to ensure effective implementation.
Pashinyan instructed officials to refine the plans and develop institutional mechanisms to carry them forward, stressing the importance of high technology in reshaping Armenia’s economic future.
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Armenia extradites robbery suspect to Germany
Armenia’s Prosecutor General, Anna Vardapetyan, has approved a request filed by German authorities for the extradition of a robbery suspect.
Vardapetyan’s office said in a press release that the suspect, identified only by the initials G.G., and accused of aggravated theft (theft committed by a group of persons by prior agreement), has been transferred into the custody of German authorities.
Other details were not immediately available.
Published by Armenpress, original at
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Magnitude 3.3 earthquake strikes Armenian–Georgian border area
A magnitude 3.3 earthquake has struck the Armenian–Georgian border area. According to the Seismic Protection Agency of the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the quake occurred about 17 km northeast of the village of Bavra in Armenia’s north-west at a depth of 10 km on April 9 at 22:44 local time (18:44 GMT).
The earthquake measured 4–5 on the MSK scale in the epicenter.
The quake was felt at an intensity of MSK 3 (weak) in several villages across Shirak and Lori provinces. No damage was reported.
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Being a member of CP is not an indulgence. Pashinyan about former teammates
Justice in Armenia operates regardless of political affiliation, and being a member of the ruling party does not give anyone immunity. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at the April 9 briefing, referring to selective justice and criminal cases against former teammates.
According to the Prime Minister, a situation often arises when people close to the “Civil Contract” (CP) party or the ruling team think that they have an indulgence and can take bribes with impunity or engage in personal business (for example, import and export of livestock) using their political position.
“Justice in Armenia works both for the representatives of the ruling party and for other persons. People start beating their chests from the pulpits not because they became oppositionists and are being judged for that, but on the contrary, they become oppositionists when they are being judged,” Pashinyan emphasized.
The head of the government noticed that many people used to take oaths of loyalty, hoping that it would absolve them of responsibility, but when faced with the force of the law, they immediately change their political camp, presenting themselves as political victims.
Referring to the future plans of the ruling power, the Prime Minister reminded that the political agenda issues will be included in the KP pre-election program and will be submitted to the people’s court, and the upcoming elections will have concrete consequences.
Answering the journalist’s clarifying question about the party affiliation of one of the former teammates and his role in the team, Pashinyan stated that he is not aware of his formal status, but assured that the person in question is not currently involved in any work in the party.
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DDF 2026 explores Armenia as digital hub and new economic bridge amid global t
Doing Digital Forum (DDF) 2026 has kicked off in Yerevan, bringing together top local and international experts, business leaders, and public sector decision-makers. The premier event for digital transformation and financial technology is being held under this year’s theme, “Bridging Platforms and Economies.”
Tatevik Simonyan, co-founder of SPRING PR, the forum’s organizer, highlighted in her opening remarks how geopolitical and economic shifts are breaking old connections, and how digital technologies are becoming key to creating new economic “bridges” in this rapidly changing world.
“For the fourth consecutive year, we are coming together around the same idea—discussing the digital world. Since its launch in 2023, the forum has brought together more than 60 distinguished speakers and over 3,000 participants from various countries and continents. In 2023, we talked about how digital transformation is the number-one imperative of our time, anticipating the events and epic changes without which it is now impossible to imagine the functioning of many sectors. In 2024, we redefined and reaffirmed the need to keep pace with these rapid transformations and, in some ways, even to harness them. In 2025, the forum’s central theme focused on one of the most influential and complex phenomena shaping human history—money and its future—which was discussed in the context of all possible scenarios. This year, the theme of DDF 26 perfectly reflects our overarching concept: “Bridging Platforms and Economies,” said Simonyan.
Tatevik Simonyan emphasized that humanity is living in a period when geopolitics is being reshaped “before our eyes”, and the “tectonic shifts” taking place are changing not only the balance of power but the very logic of connections between economies.
“The bridges that have connected the world for centuries or decades are literally burning today. Economic ties are breaking, logistics chains are being reorganized, and traditional routes are being closed or redefined. If old connections are destroyed and bridges burned, then who, where, and how will build the new ones? One of the most modern and powerful answers is digital: today, digital technologies are changing not only business but also the ways economies are interconnected, building new bridges. These changes are occurring amid global competition, economic fragmentation, and rapid technological progress,” Simonyan said.
According to the co-founder of SPRING PR, over the years, the forum’s themes, areas of discussion, participant geography, and speakers have evolved, but the emphasis has remained the same: positioning Armenia as an innovative hub for digital transformation.
“Today, this mission takes on a new emphasis because we are not only talking about a digital hub but also about Armenia as a new bridge—a bridge that can connect not only regions but also different economic systems, financial flows, and technological ecosystems,” Simonyan added.
Published by Armenpress, original at
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The capitulant prepares to make a suit with Aliyev’s clothes from our Constitution
April 8, 2026
The office of the third president of RA, Serzh Sargsyan, highlighted the important points of Serzh Sargsyan’s speech at the 18th congress of the RPA.
“1. Can you imagine, those who bring war are looking for war bringers? Artsakh surrenderers are looking for Artsakh surrenderers. Although why am I surprised, until now those who brought Nicole are still looking for others who bring Nicole.
2. We should not hesitate and are obliged to talk about our mistakes and failures. And this is not the first such case. Using the example of our party, we can say that the analysis of mistakes does not weaken, but strengthens.
3. We, the opposition, remained divided, suspicious of each other, carrying the burden of old contradictions, while the ship continues to sink.
4. Our national forces, during these years, we were separate parts standing against the patriot rulers, but we did not become a complete alternative.
5. The capitulant used to accuse that the current Constitution is “a suit sewn in Serzh Sargsyan’s clothes”, and now, here and there, they are preparing to “sewn a suit in Aliyev’s clothes” from our Constitution.
6. We should also ask ourselves: why does the international community behave this way? The answer is harsh. because Armenia has lost its dignity.
7. I have made mistakes like anyone on this earth, and I have made decisions that have resulted in real results for my country and people.
8. Yes, we Republicans are not perfect, but we are honest. We are honest about our past, our present and the challenges ahead. We are honest with ourselves and our people.
9. The Republican Party of 2026 is not the Republican Party of 2016. We are more experienced, wiser, more crystallized and tempered and more realistic.
10. We are us, with our past and present, with our professed values and faith. We are godly, what about you? We belong to our people, and whose are you? We are Armenians, and who are you?” Sargsyan announced at the congress.
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RFE/RL – Armenian Parliament Approves ‘Anti-Karapetian’ Amendments
- Ruzanna Stepanian
Amid opposition allegations of foul play, Armenia’s ruling party hastily pushed through the parliament on Tuesday legislation that banned billionaire Samvel Karapetian from giving his name to his alliance expected to be one of the main contenders in upcoming parliamentary elections.
The National Assembly approved relevant amendments to the Armenian Election Code in the first reading only several hours after they were made public by senior deputies representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. The most important of them stipulates that party alliances running in national or local elections cannot be named after persons.
The amendments were briefly debated under a so-called “urgent procedure” allowing their full passage within just 24 hours. The debate came one week after Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party and two other, little-known opposition parties officially set up an alliance for the elections slated for June 7. They named it Strong Armenia With Samvel Karapetian.
Civil Contract parliamentarians denied any connection between that development and the last-minute change to the Election Code. Their opposition colleagues dismissed those assurances.
Meanwhile, Strong Armenia leaders and activists picketed the parliament building in Yerevan to protest against what they denounced as a government attempt to make it harder for their opposition force to defeat Civil Contract in the elections. Most opinion polls cited by Armenian media in recent weeks suggest that Karapetian and his political team will be the ruling party’s number one challenger.
“This legislation is clearly directed at our political force,” Strong Armenia’s Gohar Meloyan told reporters during the protest.
Another senior party figure, Aram Vartevanian, claimed that the Election Code amendments underline Pashinian’s fears of losing powers. Narek Karapetian, the tycoon’s nephew coordinating Strong Armennia’s activities, echoed that claim in a live Facebook broadcast.
“[Pashinian] is afraid of Samvel Karapetian’s words and name, and is evening fighting against his pictures,” he said.
Karapetian, who has mainly lived in Russia since the early 1990s, decided to enter politics shortly after being arrested in Yerevan last June following his strong criticism of Pashinian’s controversial drive to oust Catholicos Garegin II. The 60-year-old tycoon, who was moved to house arrest in December, rejects all accusations levelled against him as politically motivated.
Karapetian’s team was until now primarily concerned that the Armenian authorities will not allow it to participate in the forthcoming elections. Pashinian’s administration raised those concerns when it asked the European Union late last year to deploy a “hybrid rapid response team” to Armenia after implicitly alleging Russian “hybrid” threats to the integrity of the electoral process. The EU formally agreed to that last month.
Inside Armenia’s underground wellbeing retreat where asthma patients seek rel
April 6 2026
Once state-funded, the centre now faces possible closure after the government withdrew support, saying the treatment lacks scientific evidence.
Deep beneath Armenia’s capital, a Soviet-era salt mine turned wellbeing hospital has become the unlikely centre of a growing debate over alternative medicine and modern healthcare.
Visitors descend 235 metres underground into the Republican Centre of Speleotherapy in Yerevan, where treatment consists not of medication but of breathing mineral-rich air inside huge salt caves believed to ease respiratory illness.
Speleotherapy – from the Greek word spḗlaion, meaning “cave” – is a form of alternative respiratory therapy based on spending extended periods in underground environments such as salt mines.
The clinic opened in 1987 and for decades operated as part of Armenia’s public healthcare system. But in 2019, the government cuts its funding, saying the treatment did not meet the evidence-based standards required under the country’s new universal healthcare reforms.
Since then, the centre has been fighting to stay open, even as patients continue travelling long distances in search of relief.
An unusual medical retreat beneath the earth
Armen Stepanyan, a 63-year-old mechanical engineer from the Siberian city of Kemerovo in Russia, has returned to the caves every year for more than a decade to treat severe asthma. “I’ve had asthma since I was 37. It got really bad at some point, and nothing would help. I went to a sanatorium for treatment, but that didn’t help either, so eventually I came here.”
He describes the therapy as life-changing: “I thought it was salvation. After that, I came to Yerevan every year, except for the coronavirus year. This is already the 13th time I’ve come to these caves for treatment.”
Inside the tunnels, patients rest in rows of beds, exercise, or sit together in group therapy sessions while doctors monitor their breathing and lung function. The underground environment is shielded from allergens, pollution and temperature fluctuations.
Doctor Anush Voskanyan has worked at the clinic since it opened nearly four decades ago. “The Republican Centre of Speleotherapy is located at a depth of 235 metres, deep in the salt mines. Our hospital was founded about forty years ago, and I’ve been working here since its creation. We treat mainly patients with bronchial asthma, allergic diseases, especially respiratory allergies, and skin allergies.”
She says the conditions underground are key to the treatment’s effects: “The air here is ionised, and the temperature is constant year-round, 19–20°C, and doesn’t fluctuate constantly. This is due to the depth down the earth’s crust. Radiation is reduced to zero here.”
“There are no surface magnetic radio waves, noise, dust, or allergens, and thanks to all these factors, we obtain the healing effect,” she adds.
An old medicine under scrutiny
Supporters argue that speleotherapy has long been part of healthcare traditions across eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, where natural environments such as mineral springs and mountain sanatoriums were widely used to treat chronic illness.
However critics argue there is still not enough large-scale scientific research proving the treatment actually works, and Armenian health officials say that with limited healthcare budgets, priority has to go to treatments supported by stronger evidence.
The withdrawal of state support has sharply reduced patient numbers and placed the centre’s future in doubt.
“Our centre is currently facing a crisis, as we no longer receive government funding. The centre is at risk and may be forced to close down completely. As a result, patients are unable to receive treatment due to the lack of government support. We hope that investors will come forward and that the centre will be revived,” Voskanyan says.
The government is now trying to privatise its share in the facility, raising hopes that private investors or medical tourism could potentially help keep the underground clinic open.
Check out the video above to see inside the underground retreat. https://www.euronews.com/video/2026/04/06/inside-armenias-underground-wellbeing-retreat-where-asthma-patients-seek-relief
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Time is crucial. Relatives of Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan are asking for peace
April 3, 2026
Relatives and representatives of Armenian prisoners held illegally in Azerbaijan have written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis, as well as the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Miryana Spoliarich Eger, with a request to launch the “Patronizing Power” mechanism within the framework of international humanitarian law. It informs about this “Center for International and Comparative Law”, the head of which is Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of the interests of Armenian prisoners at the ECHR.
“We, the relatives and representatives of Armenian prisoners held illegally in Azerbaijan, express our deep concern regarding the complete closure of the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan. This has significantly worsened the already dire situation of our relatives, leaving us in deep uncertainty about their fate and whereabouts.
Taking into account the above and recalling the obligations defined in the framework of international humanitarian law, we, with all respect, but also firmly call on Armenia to officially appeal to the government of the Swiss Confederation, so that the Swiss side assumes the role of “Patron Power”. This is a necessary and urgent step to ensure the protection of the rights, safety and dignity of our relatives through internationally recognized mechanisms.
We realize that the institution of “Patronizing Power” has not been used in recent decades and may seem unusual in today’s context, but the exceptional and illegal circumstances we are dealing with require just such exceptional measures. “Azerbaijan continues to keep Armenian prisoners isolated from their families, independent lawyers and impartial humanitarian organizations, which is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949,” the letter states.
Noting that at least 19 people are currently being held in Baku, their relatives report that this situation has led to a serious vacuum in the protection of rights, creating high risks of violence, ill-treatment and even enforced disappearance.
“Given these urgent and extraordinary circumstances, as well as Switzerland’s status as the host state of the ICRC and a major supporter of international humanitarian law, we respectfully request:
- The Government of the Republic of Armenia to officially appeal to the Government of the Swiss Confederation to assume the role of “Patronizing Power” in relation to all Armenian prisoners held by Azerbaijan.
- To the Government of the Swiss Confederation to grant Armenia’s request and act as a “Protecting Power”, protecting the rights and dignity of prisoners as much as possible.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross, as a substitute for the “Patron Power”, to support this appointment and assist Switzerland in the performance of its functions.
Time is of crucial importance. Continued delay may exacerbate the suffering of illegally detained persons and increase threats to their lives and physical integrity. Therefore, we call on the governments of the Republic of Armenia and Switzerland to take appropriate steps within the scope of their mandate, and to do it at the right time. In addition, we ask the International Committee of the Red Cross to support it in order to ensure the effective application of international law and the proper protection of the rights of ethnic Armenians in the conditions of ongoing violations,” the letter states.
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