May 31, 2026
Davit Ananyan, member of the management board of the “Unity Wings” party, representative of the pre-election list, general director of the company “DS-EY Consulting Group”, former head of the RA State Revenue Committee (SRC), candidate of economic sciences. writes:
“CAUTION!
Another falsehood and political provocation is being circulated in the information field using artificial intelligence. The corrupt and morally bankrupt forces are spreading false “news” that Arman Tatoyan, the prime ministerial candidate of the “Wings of Unity” party, has expressed his willingness to cooperate with the “Civil Agreement” party if he passes the National Assembly.
This is an absolute lie, conscious manipulation and political fraud.
The reality has long been known to the public. we have repeatedly, clearly, publicly and unequivocally stated that the reproduction of Nikol Pashinyan’s rule is excluded. Any option of preserving the power of the “Civil Agreement” party is also excluded.
Our political force was created not to adapt to this government, but to remove this system that leads to the destruction of the state. And we will do everything possible and impossible to remove this evil from the state and political life of Armenia.
It is not by chance that lies, provocations and informational diversions became active before the elections. They understand very well that “Wings of Unity” has become a real political and public factor, and that is why they are trying to distort our positions, sow doubts in the public and weaken our public support.
Dear compatriots,
Do not give in to these cheap provocations. Be alert and distinguish the real political struggle from fake and informational garbage. The real purpose of these attempts to weaken us is to take your votes away from us so that the reproduction of the current government becomes easier and more controllable.
But that will not happen.
The future of Armenia will not be determined by fakes and technological manipulations, but by the conscious, dignified and decisive choice of the people.”
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Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky’s 1919 article “Karabakh” and it sounded there
May 31, 2026
In 1916, the famous Russian poet Sergey Gorodetsky was on the Caucasian front of the First World War. That period was of great importance for the writer, especially regarding his pro-Armenian position.
Already after the October Revolution, he published his collection of poems “The Angel of Armenia”. It is in that book that he talks about the Armenian Genocide. In 1919, Gorodetsky’s article “Karabakh” was published in “Кавказское слово” periodical.
In the article, Gorodetsky mentions the main thesis that Artsakh is one of the main pillars of the historical existence, national identity and cultural continuity of the Armenian people. He emphasizes that Artsakh is the eastern wing of Armenia and the main guarantor of security, not only geographically, but also in a military-political sense, without which it is impossible to protect Armenia. At the same time, the article defends the point of view that the loss of Artsakh will mean not only a territorial loss, but also a violation of the idea of self-determination of nations, while its preservation can become the main point of the cultural and national revival of Armenia.
About 100 years ago, Gorodetsky points to points that, decades later, now show that the points he pointed to were true. Below we present Sergey Gorodetsky’s article “Karabakh” in its entirety.
Sergey Gorodetsky, “Karabakh”, 1919.
“Every country, every nation has its traditional fortress. When the history of the people has a successful course, it becomes the center of cultural and political life. And when fate persecutes a nation, it becomes a pillar of national life, an island of hopes, a guarantee of rebirth. For the Armenian people, the last mentioned role was played and played by the mountainous region of Karabakh. Nature itself has given it immense importance.
There, in the impregnable heights of Karabakh, which are the continuation of the Kars and Sevan plateaus, the Armenian people endured the attacks of nomadic tribes for more than two thousand years, preserving their culture, preserving their national face. Being united ethnographically, economically and linguistically, Karabakh has become the citadel of Armenia, its eastern wing. That’s how he was in the past, that’s how he is now, and that’s how he will be forever, because without being the owner of Karabakh, it is impossible to protect the heart of Armenia, the Ararat valley.
Many times in the course of history, the waves of attack hit and shattered the fortress of Karabakh, penetrating only the river valleys, but they did not stay there for long. The rulers of Syunik (that’s how Karabakh was called) in ancient times drove the enemy from the local lands many times by their own forces. History repeats itself, and last time it happened in front of our eyes. Nature and history in Karabakh were created in a vividly expressed type.
It is easy to recognize Karabakh people scattered all over the world. A wide momentum of activity, selfless courage, willingness to risk life, self-confidence, original persistence, patriarchal lifestyle – these are the endearing characteristics of the Karabakh people, which seem to be the concentration of the old Armenian virtues, virtues that have faded from the brutalities of history and have been preserved in Karabakh in a pure form.
A tall, sturdy people, ascending the mountains to save their lives, were strengthened by the influence of the mountain air, and kept free from the infections which befall the inhabitants of the valleys. The national memory of Armenia must preserve the memory of many famous people from Karabakh. There is no field in which they have not demonstrated their entrepreneurship and talent.
Politics, literature, social activities, trade – all these served as a field of work for them… By giving many notable figures, Karabakh created or, more precisely, preserved in its pure form the type of the ancient Armenian woman, in whose psychology and lifestyle much has been preserved from the patriarchy.
Karabakh forged by its culture and lifestyle has not cast a shadow on its ancient glory in our days. As in Tamerlan’s time, gathering their troops, the Meliks defended the independence of Karabakh.
The Shushi incident did not change the overall picture of Nur Pasha’s defeat, and the line of defense remained essentially intact, as during the previous attacks. Such is the significance of Karabakh for Armenia. If Armenia loses Karabakh, then the idea of self-determination of nations should be severely crushed.
And on the contrary, Armenia, being the owner of Karabakh, will receive a strong flow of cultural power, which, flooding the destroyed spaces of Armenia, will impregnate them with culture and thereby complete the centuries-old history of Karabakh. Each nation is now looking for its own. The whole future of the reborn nations depends on whether they will find in themselves a sufficient, so to speak, level of national culture.
In such conditions, all centers where cultural life has been concentrated for one reason or another acquire exceptional importance. Such is the significance of Karabakh for Armenia.
It is true that history has drawn Armenia to the south, to the warm sea, and perhaps from there forces will pour in that will make Karabakh the northern edge of the new Armenia, but even then it does not lose its importance as an untouched and centuries-old cultural fund.” (“Reborn Armenia”, 1989, N1).
Z. I hesitated
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Russia does not want the gas situation in Armenia to escalate. Overch
May 31, 2026
A difficult situation may arise in Armenia related to gas, and Russia does not want that to happen. This was announced by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk in an interview with Pavel Zarubin.
“They [Armenia] just have to look at the map and see which pipelines are still operational. And they will immediately see where they will get Russian gas, taking into account the 30% export duty, because that will be the market price. Because middlemen will also want to get their share of the profits. Therefore, the situation in Armenia will become very complicated. We don’t want that,” said the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.
The journalist also asked Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev whether Armenia can get rich without cheap Russian gas. “Well, let them try, it’s their choice. But so far, the structure of their economy shows that they are experiencing significant GDP growth, thanks in part to cheap Russian energy resources. Let them try to replace it with European ones, and we will see what will happen,” Tsivilev told Zarubin.
At the EAEU summit held in Astana on May 29, the leaders of the member states issued a joint statement, in which, among other things, they called for a referendum in Armenia as soon as possible on joining the EU or remaining in the EAEU.
Earlier, after the EAEU summit held in Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Armenia could lose 14% of its GDP if it leaves the EAEU.
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Go to Choices You Have the Right to Heal, Not Just the Obligation to Pay
May 31, 2026
For 8 years, they promised us modern, accessible and human-centered healthcare. Instead, we got overburdened doctors, endless administration, emptying medical facilities in marzes, increasing cost of medical care and a system where the citizen is often left alone in front of his problem.
About this 168TVof “Healthy Decision” spoke during the program Anush Poghosyan, president of “Right to Health” NGO:
According to him, thousands of families experienced pain, loss and uncertainty during COVID-19.
“After the war, thousands of wounded, displaced persons and families were left with incomplete support. In these years, health care was often more busy with propaganda than with real reforms,” Anush Poghosyan presented the situation.
The latter added that even today people continue to collect money for treatment, wait in lines, travel to Yerevan from marzes to receive basic services.
“The medical worker continues to work under conditions of pressure, uncertainty and unappreciated work,” said Anush Poghosyan.
Summing up, the human rights defender called on the public to definitely participate in the June 7 parliamentary elections.
“Go to the elections so that health care is managed by specialists, not by political interests. Go to the election so that the doctor can work decently in his country. Go to the election so that the citizen has the right to be treated, not just the obligation to pay. Go to the polls, because the price of healthcare mistakes is human lives,” concluded Anush Poghosyan.
Details in the video.
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His Holiness calls on the Armenian people to participate in the parliamentary elections
May 31, 2026
All-Armenian Catholicos Garegin II calls on the Armenian people to participate in the parliamentary elections next Sunday, June 7. His Holiness announced this in his address on the occasion of the Ararat Week.
Garegin the Second reminded that on June 7, the church celebrates the feast of Saint Etchmiadzin Cathedral, which was built 1725 years ago.
“Unfortunately, these days we will celebrate the holiday of St. Etchmiadzin in a situation where heavy losses have disturbed the peace of our people, when the foundations of our people’s identity are being attacked, and sacred spiritual and national symbols are beggared. We will celebrate the feast of St. Etchmiadzin in deeply worrying conditions: our society is divided, hatred, enmity, intolerance and injustice are being sown in the homeland, and with the intervention of the authorities, the age-old regulations of the church are being mutilated, our Holy Church and church-loving people are being persecuted and repressed,” said Vehapar.
He stressed that in these difficult days it is more than important to stick firmly to the Christian faith, overcome internal divisions and restore the inner peace and tranquility of our people.
“My father urges all of you to participate in the elections indiscriminately this coming Sunday, with a high awareness of the interests of the nation and the motherland, with a vision of a bright future and responsibility towards the generations, so that the law prevails in our country, human rights and dignity are respected, justice and truth, love and solidarity and mutual respect are mastered, discarding all malice, all deceit, hypocrisies, envy and all slander, as in the message is the apostle (I Pet. 2.1)”, the Catholicos said.
He called on the political forces to be free from hate speech, to show vigilance and prudence and to keep the Armenian people away from possible unwanted developments. Garegin the Second also urged the representatives of the law enforcement system to provide all necessary conditions for the holding of fair elections and the free expression of the Armenian people.
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“Rubio’s visit and the signed memorandum express political support to the government
May 31, 2026
On May 26, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Armenia for 1 hour. He signed several documents with Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan at the airport and immediately left Armenia.
One of the documents signed by Ararat Mirzoyan and Marco Rubio was the framework memorandum between the Republic of Armenia and the United States of America on supply assurance in the field of extraction and processing of important minerals and rare minerals.
As mentioned memoThe aim of the participants is to support both countries to ensure the resilience and security of critical minerals supply chains, including extraction, separation and processing in their respective territories. Participants also intend to cooperate with third parties, as appropriate, to ensure the security of supply chains and to use existing cooperation mechanisms.
Narine Kirkakosyan, co-founder of “Eco-media” network It is not clear why they attach so much importance to the signed memorandum.
“I can say that this is another bubble, like the “Trump Way”, this is also a branch of it. I am reading the memorandum posted on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. First of all, it is a framework memorandum, that is, this document is about the possibility that they may sign another cooperation document. But this is still a framework memorandum between RA and the United States, it is stated that they will cooperate in the field of supply of “important materials and minerals extraction and processing, that is, they are only talking about supply, this may be related to uranium.” There is nothing new here, the phrase “because” is mentioned several times in that memorandum, as Nikol Pashinyan likes to repeat his chants, here the phrase is also repeated in the column and some sentences are written.” of 168.am Narine Kirakosyan said in a conversation with
According to him, the memorandum published on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions important minerals, he read it and tried to understand what kind of important minerals it is talking about, because not a single mineral is written about. It is presented only about the delivery, which will be “Trump’s way”.
“Here it becomes clear that Armenia can become a road “underfoot” with this document.
On the other hand, if you look back at the history of Armenia over the centuries, Armenia has always been a “silk road”, and if it was and this is another memorandum connecting it with Asia, we can say that now it will become a transit route for minerals, but what minerals are we talking about, it is not clear: uranium, molybdenum, we don’t know.
There is also talk about the recycling and reproduction of the waste, which could be the uranium used by the nuclear power plant. According to them, the United States can build modular nuclear power plants for us and waste processing can be connected with it. However, we still do not have those small modular nuclear power plants all over the world, we have not even passed the licensing. Now China is testing a small nuclear power plant, and other countries, France, the United States, are still in the working phase to get a license.
It is not by chance that I do not say everything in scientific language, I want it to be clear for people that this is another bubble document. If the government in RA changes, the next government will come and say: “Brother, davai dosvidanie”, we are not signing, this does not mean that we are worsening our relations with the United States”, added Narine Kairakosyan.
Our interlocutor also emphasized that there is nothing about Amulsar in this document.
“Rubio’s visit here and the signed memorandum only express political support to the authorities of the day.
One more thing: American politics has nothing to do with environmental protection, they do not join any international convention, they follow their own policy. Whether it is good or bad, this is their problem, but their only problem here is that what is important is good for their country, other people’s fathers be damned.
For example, they don’t think that by bombing neighboring Iran, what environmental damage they cause. Or they come, they open a gold mine in Jermuk, this is important for them, not to extract gold, but to have a presence here and push Russia out. We also had a mine in Sotku, they took it and gave it to the enemy, I think the British are using it now, or the other mines in Artsakh.
I think this is another memorandum of the conflict of interests of different big countries, which does not speak to the policies of China, Iran, Russia, and the EU. And it’s another document with which this government drags us into geopolitical conflicts,” emphasized Narine Kirakosyan.
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We do not say, Nikoli’s educated and constructive partner Aliyev says: 300,000
May 31, 2026
“Pressing” in the program Suren Surenyants, chairman of the “Democratic Alternative” party, number 6 on the pre-election list of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, among other issues, he spoke about 300,000 Azerbaijanis coming to Armenia.
According to him, Aliyev is trying to make the subject of “Western Azerbaijan” part of the international agenda.
“Pashinyan’s educated and constructive friend Aliyev says: peace is not an empty paper that you sign and it is approved. At the helm of power in Baku sits someone who understands international relations very well.
Circles close to the government generate the idea to create a criminal prosecution tool against those oppositionists who will talk about 300,000 Azerbaijanis coming to Armenia. They threaten to initiate a case under Article 297. It is the article of the Criminal Code under which Armen Grigoryan was arrested and later died in court for spreading domestic hatred.
If the Constitution is changed at the request of Azerbaijan, then there will be demands for enclaves, settling Azerbaijanis here, and strengthening their rights with legislative mechanisms – Azerbaijani demands. I recently visited Tigranashen, which Pashinyan will hand over. The school is closed in that village, and the population is leaving. They talk about silver. It does not have the same strategic significance for us as Tigranashen and the 3 villages of Tavush, which, if lost, will put us under siege,” said Suren Surenyants.
Details in the video.
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If Tigranashen is surrendered, Armenia will appear in full Turkish-Azerbaijani conflict
May 31, 2026
“Classes” of the program the guest՝ Turkic scholar, candidate of historical sciences Varuzhan Geghamyan spoke About the strategic importance of Tigranashen, which, Nikol Pashinyan did not deny that he will hand over to Azerbaijan.
“On the morning of June 8, if the de facto regime was re-elected, there will be a demand to present Tigranashen, which the Turks call Kyarki, to Azerbaijan as soon as possible. Tigranashen is of critical importance for the territorial integrity of Armenia. Tigranashen is located on the border of Nakhichevan and Vayots Dzor and Ararat. If Tigranashen is surrendered, a Turkish wedge will be driven into the territory of Armenia. Tigranashen is also located on the border of Central Northern Armenia and Southern Armenia.
If Tigranashen is handed over, it will not be a village, but a large military base. Our geography does not allow us to build a normal road bypassing that section. To go from Masis to Yeghegnadzor, from Yerevan to Goris or from Vanadzor to Kapan, you will have to deal with Azerbaijanis in one way or another. To go from one part of Armenia to another, we will pass through the Azeri corridor. If Kyarky is an enclave, as they say, and Azerbaijan wants to have a presence there, there is no other way than to give a corridor to that land.
It’s not enough, we will give that enclave, one more small corridor to get there. By handing over Tigranashen, Armenia is creating a slow-acting bomb in its territory, which will have access to the entire Ararat Valley. To go from Yerevan to Iran, whether you like it or not, you will pass through the Azerbaijani territory. It turns out that instead of lifting the blockade, we get a full blockade,” said Varuzhan Geghamyan.
Details in the video.
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Putin Urges Armenia to Hold Early Referendum on EU Membership
Astana (TDI): Armenia has come under renewed political pressure from Russia and its allies over its long-term foreign policy direction, with President Vladimir Putin and several Eurasian partners urging Yerevan to quickly decide whether it intends to pursue European Union membership or remain within Russia-led structures.
Speaking at a summit in Astana, Putin said Armenia should hold a referendum on EU membership “as soon as possible,” arguing that it is not possible for the country to simultaneously align with both the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The statement was supported by Russia’s close allies Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, who jointly warned that Armenia’s deepening engagement with the EU could pose “significant risks” to the economies of member states in the Eurasian bloc.
Armenia is formally part of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union but has steadily expanded ties with the European Union in recent years, particularly after tensions increased with Moscow over security guarantees in the South Caucasus.
Under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia has adopted a foreign policy of diversification, seeking to balance relations between Russia and Western institutions while reducing overdependence on any single power.
The shift has been driven in part by frustration in Yerevan over what it views as limited Russian support during its conflicts with neighboring Azerbaijan, prompting a gradual rethinking of its traditional security alignment.
Moscow, however, continues to view Armenia as a key partner in its regional economic and security architecture, warning that a move toward EU integration could force structural and political contradictions within existing agreements.
Despite the growing diplomatic pressure, Armenian officials have not yet issued a formal response to the latest remarks, while maintaining that their foreign policy decisions will be based on national interest and long-term stability.
The debate reflects broader geopolitical competition in the post-Soviet space, where several countries are increasingly navigating between Western integration and continued participation in Russia-led economic and security frameworks.
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Rubio Armenia Visit Highlights Western Turn—One Step Remains | Opinion
Armenia’s parliamentary election on June 7 will be seen as a referendum on the country’s extraordinary geopolitical gamble. Armenia’s emerging Western orientation should not be viewed as a political property of any single leader but as a shift away from strategic overdependence on Moscow toward broader partnership with Europe and the United States, reflecting a collective national reassessment.
The strategy has already produced visible results. The May 4 European Union summit in Armenia reflected the country’s growing importance to Europe and Washington as a potential democratic and logistical bridge in the South Caucasus. This week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Yerevan to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Armenia, alongside additional accords on critical minerals and cooperation surrounding a proposed transit corridor through southern Armenia linking Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan and onward to Turkey.
The agreements underscored how central the South Caucasus has suddenly become to Western strategic thinking as Europe and the United States seek new trade, energy, and logistical routes that bypass both Russia and Iran.
So Armenia has diversified its partnerships, deepened ties with Europe, hosted Western leaders, and reduced its reliance on Russia. A country long viewed as isolated and vulnerable has started to look outward with a degree of confidence unseen in a generation.
Yet, this transformation rests on an enormous and painful sacrifice.
The price of Armenia’s geopolitical repositioning was effectively the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh, known to Armenians as Artsakh, the mountainous enclave that for decades functioned as a de facto Armenian state after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Following Azerbaijan’s military assault in September 2023, the enclave, which also endured a nine-month blockade, collapsed entirely. More than 120,000 ethnic Armenians fled almost overnight into Armenia itself, fearing persecution, imprisonment, or worse under Azerbaijani rule. One of the oldest Armenian communities in the world vanished from the territory in a matter of days.
For many Armenians, the trauma remains raw and unresolved because the world moved on with startling speed. International outrage faded quickly, with attention shifting to the Middle East after the October 7 assault by Hamas on Israel, and the devastating wars that followed.
In the South Caucasus itself, diplomatic energy and attention shifted toward infrastructure deals and regional normalization. The refugees settled in Armenia, carrying stories of abandoned homes, left behind cemeteries, emptied churches, and a collective identity uprooted from its historic center. They received sympathy but little justice, no meaningful compensation, and no credible path toward return.
At the center of this unresolved tragedy sits another issue that increasingly threatens to poison Armenia’s rapprochement with Azerbaijan and its wider Western integration: the continued imprisonment in Azerbaijan of several dozen former Artsakh officials and public figures, including Ruben Vardanyan, the former state minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, who was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to 20 years in Azerbaijani prison.
Their detention has become one of the defining moral questions of the postwar order in the Caucasus. Azerbaijan presents them as criminals. Armenians view them as political prisoners abandoned in the rush toward normalization. Their fate has acquired enormous symbolic power because many Armenians increasingly feel that reconciliation has become a one-sided process in which Armenia makes concessions while Azerbaijan consolidates military victory and diplomatic leverage without restraint.
That perception carries serious political consequences for the normalization process. If regional integration and promising transport corridors are associated with the forsaking of prisoners and the definitive erasure of Artsakh’s Armenians—these projects will remain vulnerable no matter who wins the next elections.
Yet even Armenians open to compromise and coexistence struggle to understand why the issue of the prisoners receives so little sustained international attention at precisely the moment when Azerbaijan seeks broader legitimacy, deeper commercial partnerships, and expanded transit arrangements with the West.
The current diplomatic environment gives Europe and the United States more leverage than they appear willing to use, and that leverage is no longer theoretical. Rubio’s visit to Yerevan this week–three months after a historic visit by Vice President JD Vance–and the signing of a new U.S.-Armenia strategic partnership agreement reflect a profound geopolitical shift already underway across the South Caucasus.
Azerbaijan wants stability, investment, and recognition as a central transit and energy hub connecting Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey, and Europe. It wants infrastructure agreements to proceed smoothly. It wants long-term economic integration with Western markets and institutions. Armenia wants security, integration, and durable Western backing as it attempts its historic pivot away from Moscow despite growing Russian economic pressure and threats.
The region now stands closer than at any time in decades to a genuine reordering based on connectivity rather than armed confrontation. That makes this precisely the moment for Rubio, Washington, and Europe to insist on resolving the prisoner issue as part of the broader settlement rather than treating it as an inconvenient humanitarian side matter.
That makes this the moment to insist on resolving the prisoner issue as part of the broader settlement rather than treating it as an inconvenient side matter.
Western governments have repeatedly praised Armenia’s democratic development and its willingness to move toward compromise after military defeat. They have encouraged reconciliation and rewarded Yerevan diplomatically for pursuing a less confrontational path. Those same governments should now make clear that regional integration carries obligations for all parties, including Azerbaijan. The release of political detainees from Artsakh should become a central demand in negotiations surrounding transport corridors, economic partnerships, and normalization initiatives.
Such a step would strengthen moderates inside Armenia rather than weaken them. It would also show Armenians that Washington’s growing partnership with Yerevan is not purely transactional, but still tied to principles of political accountability and human dignity.
It would give Armenians evidence that diplomacy can still protect human dignity and national interests even after catastrophic loss. It would reduce the growing perception that Armenia alone absorbs sacrifice while the international system rewards power without accountability.
The alternative carries profound risks. Settlements engineered on the calculus of corridors and expediency have rarely outlasted the grievances they chose not to address. In societies marked by displacement and bitter loss, what is deferred is not resolved—it is harbored.
Peace agreements imposed without moral legitimacy rarely endure in places shaped by memory, displacement, and unresolved grief.
The South Caucasus stands at a rare historical opening, but true peace requires more than corridors, summits, and investment conferences. It requires a sense that justice still matters in the architecture of the new order taking shape across the region. Right now, the prisoners of Artsakh represent the clearest test of whether that principle survives.
Grigor Hovhannissian is Armenia’s former ambassador to the United States and Mexico and Armenia’s former deputy foreign minister.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
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