Category: News

Yesterday, Pashinyan met with representatives of the business community and assured that with the peace established with Azerbaijan, Armenia is entering a new period of economic development. Moreover, he continued to address the perspectives of the TRIPP project launch, talking about rail cargo transportation through the territory of Azerbaijan to Armenia.

Are such proposals really forward-looking, or against the background of the latest Russian announcements, a quasi-comforting alternative for businessmen? 168․am was interested in political economist Hrant Mikayelyan.

“How the business community will react to Pashinyan’s false promises, it will be a bit difficult for me to clarify, because of course there are people who look very positively at the prospects of establishing relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, regardless of all the circumstances.

Here his calculation may partially work, but at the same time, the business community already realizes that Pashinyan’s policy in the direction of Russia will significantly worsen their position, and in addition, in the direction of Turkey, if we get rid of the language of promises and move to real life, then realistic, tangible progress is not observed.

Therefore, I think that this PR move will not have the effect it wants to have. In other words, he will not get additional votes and additional support in that community,” explained Hrant Mikayelyan.

To the question: does Pashinyan’s talk about long-term economic prospects indicate that he is confident in his and his team’s re-election prospects, the political scientist answered that the current behavior of the authorities indicates the opposite.

“I don’t see the confidence that they are convinced of their reproduction. In other words, the actions of the authorities, the propaganda they are conducting, the new chain of arrests, yesterday’s unsuccessful attempt to arrest Gohar Ghumashyan, and the attempts of new repressions show their distrust. Pashinyan’s tasteless statements… all this proves that there is no trust.

The fact that they want to present the situation like that is another matter, but it is not necessary to overestimate the possibility of reproduction,” he added.

Hrant Mikayelyan listed several factors that will be of significant importance in the electoral mosaic in any case, such as where will the electorate of the parties and forces that will not participate in the elections go, or whether Pashinyan may try to resort to some unconventional steps, to introduce a state of emergency, etc., the internal political shades of the European Political Community Summit in Armenia…

“There are many questions here, but Pashinyan knows better than anyone that at the moment his support is lower than the support of the opposition, which is also confirmed by polls. Another thing is that with various manipulations, for example, in the scenario of the Yerevan elections, he can try to win, and it is not excluded,” the specialist summarized.

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The Armenian people, the political elite of Armenia, the intelligentsia, the collective Armenians must defeat the Turkish Trojan horse.

The history of peoples is a history of ups and downs, victories and defeats.

This stage, in the personal history of our people and all of us, these last years are a period of defeat.

This is a very deep question that has many layers.

Details: video

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On April 2 TASS:In an interview with , Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexei Overchuk stated that the signing of the agreement on the implementation of the “Trump Road” project violated the regional balance of the South Caucasus.

“The problem is that these signatures caused deeper processes. They violated the regional balance that existed since 1828, when the Treaty of Turkmencha was signed.” he justified, recalling that “at that time, the lands of the Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates were ceded to the Russian Empire, and the border was established along the geographical border along the Araks River.”

“Since then, in general, this is a peaceful border, which was ensured by the agreements reached between the two big neighbors.” stressed Overchuk.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia continued that Russia’s participation in the tripartite working group of Deputy Prime Ministers allowed for a balanced discussion of the interests of all present countries, taking into account the sovereignty, jurisdiction, territorial integrity and economic interests of Armenia.

“Azerbaijan was in a constructive mood, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which at that time was already conducting negotiations with the EAEU on the mutual opening of markets, did not feel the threats brought by inviting the Americans to the northern coast of Araks,” he said.

It should be noted that the tripartite on November 9-10, 2020 from the announcement then, the 9th point of which refers to the unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region, two more Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral declarations be signed.

In particular, approved in Moscow on January 11, 2021 statement mentions the creation of a working group dealing with the issue of unblocking.

“1. We support the implementation of point 9 of the statement of November 9, 2020 regarding the unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region. President of the Russian Federation V.V. to Putin’s proposal.

2. The working group will hold its first session by January 30, 2021, and based on its results, it will draw up The list of the main directions of works resulting from the implementation of point 9 of the announcement, defining railway and road communications as priorities,as well as Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Armenia and Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Parties) will define other directions by agreement between them,” the document states.

On November 26, 2021, the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia will meet together in Sochi statement were accept, where, in fact, the emphasis was again on the process of unblocking, but also on the process of demarcation.

«We highly appreciated 2021. The activity of the Trilateral Working Group on unblocking all economic and transport links of the region established under the joint chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation in accordance with the statement of January 11. We emphasized the need to start concrete projects as soon as possible to reveal the economic potential of the region.”

And though regarding TRIPP and trade corridors in the region In the context of the article by Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs In a conversation with Shiraz Khachatryan, an expert of the “Henaket” analytical center, recently we have touched on the role of regional players, the transforming role of Russia and the strengthening role of Turkey. However, the footnotes of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister’s statement were not addressed at that time, which we tried to do this time:

Shiraz Khachatryan, expert of “Henaket” analytical center this time we tried to understandլ՝ What does Overchuk’s reference to the Treaty of Turkmencha mean? What does this interesting statement by a Russian official mean about both Syunik and Nakhichevan?

“In my opinion, Overchuk’s statement is not so much a historical excursus as it is a political message to regional and major actors. When he says that the TRIPP agreements have upset the balance established since 1828, he actually means the regional order, which was based on the borders of Russian and Iranian influence for a long time, and later on the treaty system mediated by Moscow. The mention of the Treaty of Turkmencha here is not accidental. The Russian side is trying to show that the current border and political architecture of the South Caucasus was not formed today, but has a two-century deep historical-legal basis, the circumvention of which is perceived in Moscow as a change in the arrangement of forces to their detriment. One of the important layers of this announcement is not only TRIPP, but also the topic of Nakhijevan. You know that Azerbaijan has recently abolished the significance of the Moscow and Kars treaties of 1921 regarding Nakhichevan, weakening their references in its internal legal framework. But the special status of Nakhichevan as a part of Azerbaijan with external guarantees was confirmed by those agreements. In other words, when Baku tries to push those bases to the background, it is considered in Moscow not as a matter of internal change of the given country, but as an attempt to rethink the entire regional legal and political structure. That is why Overchuk’s words referring to previous agreements, in my opinion, mean several things.

First, Russia openly says that it does not consider new communication projects purely on the economic level.

Second, Moscow warns that it considers the new balance being built in the South Caucasus without its participation to be problematic.

And third, this is a reaction not only to American involvement, but also to Turkey’s growing role and Azerbaijan’s attempts to redact the previous treaty bases. In short, Overchuk is trying to say that the issue of changing the status of Nakhichevan or TRIPP are not new processes or projects in the Russian perception, but are a blow to the historical and political system on which Moscow has built its influence in the region for decades. 168.amShiraz Khachatryan explained in a conversation with

The fact that Aliyev decided to limit the autonomy of Nakhichevan, we wrote just last year. We we have informed also about the process of turning Nakhijevan into a tax and administrative free zone and referred to its risks.

Shiraz Khachatryan gave a positive answer to the question: to what extent can the topics of internal legal change in Nakhijevan and the issue of the road passing through Syunik be considered in the same dimension, or is it possible?

“Yes, the topic of internal legal changes in Nakhichevan and the issue of the road passing through Syunik can be considered on the same military-political level. Outwardly, they are different processes, but in reality they are two sides of the same transformation. Overchuk’s statements are remarkable for this very reason. When he talks about the Syunik road, the tripartite working group and the “disturbed balance”, it becomes clear that Moscow is unhappy not only with the specific project, but also with the fact that Armenia is trying to move in such formats where the role of Russia is either reduced or bypassed. In this context, the legal changes around Nakhichevan and the topic of the road passing through Syunik are connected.

If, on the one hand, Baku is trying to redefine the foundations of Nakhichevan’s status by reducing the importance of previous contractual references, then on the other hand, it is promoting a new communication regime, which should operate under new power conditions. In other words, in one case, the legal basis is revised, in the other case, its geopolitical continuation is created. For Russia, this is a general process with the general picture of a weakening of its role, an increase in the influence of Turkey, a deepening of American involvement, a more independent play of Azerbaijan and the often incomprehensible behavior of Armenia. That is why the mention of Iran in Overchuk’s speech is not accidental either. Moscow is actually implying that under the conditions of the previous balance, Tehran did not feel threatened as long as Russia was involved as a mediator and guarantor. But now, when that system is changing, Iran’s sensitivity is naturally increasing, and the latter should advance its interests in the region in a non-passive way,” the expert said.

Let’s add that Azeri sources recently had reported that works are underway to connect the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan to the main energy system of Azerbaijan and to form the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Europe energy corridor.

In this context, it was informed that a high-voltage transmission line with a voltage of 330 kilovolts and a capacity of 1000 megawatts is being built, starting from “Jrakan (Jabrayil)”, and that in the next phase of the project, an additional 44 km long transmission line will be built, which will cross the “Zangezur Corridor”.

Rashad Mammadov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Turkey last year referred to Prospects related to “Zangezur Corridor” and report the following:

“As Nakhichevan has no land connection with Azerbaijan, we are currently supplying it with natural gas through Turkey, through the Tbilisi-Erzrum pipeline. Recently, the possibility of building a second pipeline has appeared. In other words, there is a possibility to build a gas pipeline from Zangezur to Nakhichevan. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to lay a pipeline from Nakhijevan to Kars, which will open new perspectives,” he elaborated.

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On April 3, the Chairman of the RA NA Foreign Relations Committee Sargis Khandanyan met with the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Yerevan, Mohammed Al-Sheikhli. Welcoming the guest, the Armenian parliamentarian noted that the friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries have always been a solid basis for the continuous development of cooperation between Armenia and Iraq, emphasizing the development and expansion of interstate and parliamentary relations. M. According to Al-Sheikhli, bilateral relations between Armenia and Iraq are developing dynamically, which is also reflected by the signing of a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding. Yerevan and Baghdad attach great importance to the establishment of peace in the region, stressing that it is the most important condition for the prosperity and mutually beneficial cooperation of the states.

Earlier, at the beginning of the year, the Iraqi diplomat was received by the RA Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Narek Apitonyan. According to the press service of the department, a number of issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy and the prospects of its development were discussed during the meeting. Er:and:are planning to at least double the import of Iraqi liquefied petroleum gas from the current year, seeking to weaken the dependence in this field not only on the Russian Federation, but alsoand: From Azerbaijan, where the limited supply of this product started hereby thevowel marchfrom: Narek Apitonyan emphasized the developing relations between the two countries in the field of energy, expressed hope that the dynamics of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy will improve, opening up new opportunities in that field.

Նշվեց՝ Armenia imports liquefied petroleum gas from Iraq. According to the data of the RA Customs Service, in the first half of 2025, Armenia imported 218.1 tons of this energy resource, which is 68.3% more compared to the same period last year. Moreover, customs valuen: increased 2.8 times to $146,000. During that period, Iraqi gas accounted for only 0.1% of total imports of this commodity. This volume in the second half of the yearn: grew toand: a total of 410 tons, which is about 1% of total imports. These supplies were mainly routed through Iran, against which the United States and: Israel launched a war of aggression on February 20, 2026.

In the opposite direction, again through the Meghri checkpoint, cigarettes are transported through the territory of Iran and: some other Armenian products: The total volume of exports and re-exports from Armenia to Iraq in 2025 made 338 million dollars, while trade turnover has steadily increased. noted participants of the 4th session of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between the two countries. Armenia in October last year and: Oman has submitted formal applications to join the Road to Development project, according to the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Transport Adviser Nasser Al-Assadi. “The Iraqi government thinks so՝ right?and:those countries should participate in the “Road to Development” project. Q:atheCome on, the UAE and: Turkey has expressed readiness to support the project. The ambassador of Armenia in Iraq also expressed his desire for his country to participate in the project, the Armenian industry and: With Iraq and the regionand:by creating a free zone for trade exchanges”.

Earlier, in the late 1990s (and even in the mid-1970s), experts from the USSR/Russia, Iran and Iraq discussed a project to transit natural and oil gas and oil from Mesopotamian fields through Iran to the Caucasus, with the possible creation of a gas and oil export hub near the port of Batumi.. Such a project was conditioned both by the normalization of relations between Iraq and Iran, who signed friendship and border treaties in Algiers in 1975, and by the relatively friendly relations of the USSR with both the regimes of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and Saddam Hussein. However, in 1979 the bloody Iran-Iraq war began, which lasted until 1988 and buried any transit option in the region for many years.

Meanwhile, there was also a project that provided for the exit of northern Iraqi oil to the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea. This age-old idea, which dates back to 1919, was developed by the British oil business to connect oil-producing regions and pumping systems in the Middle East and the Caspian region by the shortest route.. In 1995-2001, Mehdi Safari, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, told the author of my article (at that time, the commentator of RCC): “There were no categorical objections from Iran, the issue is being discussed, but a lot will depend on the position of the Iraqi side.”

Some authors consider the hypothetical energy connection between Iran and Iraq to be one of the reasons for the eternal concern of the US and Israel. An alliance between the two neighboring countries would quickly establish a dominant position in the region, and cooperation had come a long way in recent decades. For example, as of 2019, Iran supplies almost 43% of Iraq’s gas needs for developing Iraqi electricity generation (supplied by pipeline through the southern city of Basra and by rail). Iran resumed gas supplies to Iraq on March 21, 2026, after a nearly one-month hiatus due to the “Epstein Coalition’s” attacks on the largest field of “South Pars”. Iraq depends on Iranian gas (mainly liquefied natural gas) to run its power plants. The agreement provides for supplies up to and including 2029, with an option to extend for any period. In addition, the White House prohibits Baghdad from importing gas from Iran, but the government of Muammar al-Sudani insists on “temporary” permits and receives them.

It appears that renewed Iran-Iraq energy cooperation partially exempts Iraqi oil and gas from the embargo to supply Armenia, Turkey and Jordan. At the same time, projects have been prepared with the French TotalEnergies for the development of 4 new gas fields in central and southern Iraq in 2026-2031. Total gas reserves in the country are appreciated about 4.6 trillion cubic meters, almost 70% of which is petroleum gas. Whether all this will be realized depends on the course of events in the region, including the early cessation of US-Israeli aggression against Iran and the restoration of normal operation of transit routes.

Alexey Baliev

vpoanalytics.com

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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The Republican Party proposes to clarify the rules of the game with all opposition forces at this very moment, in order to avoid possible situations hindering the nomination of a united opposition candidate during the post-election processes. About this 168 TVof Revue mentioned on the air of the program RPA Council member Levon Nazaryanclarifying that it is about the signing of the memorandum proposed by the third president of the Republic of Armenia, the chairman of the RPA, Serzh Sargsyan.

The member of the RPA council reminded that Serzh Sargsyan had proposed that the candidates included in the first three dozen of the pre-election lists of the opposition forces participating in the NA elections should sign a corresponding memorandum, assuming a moral obligation not to cooperate with the regime and not to leave the opposition field.

“Let’s imagine the following situation: the opposition forces have entered the parliament, Samvel Karapetyan at that moment still has no chance to become the prime minister due to the constitutional regulations, let’s assume that the favorite is Narek Karapetyan, and the honorable Second President can say, right? “I have the moral right to insist that you choose me as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia at this moment, taking into account my irrevocable merit in the establishment of the state, even though I am not the leader of the leading opposition force with votes.” If suddenly this problem or this situation arises, how will we orient ourselves in this regard? Will that be an excuse for the opposition forces not being able to unite and send this government home after June 7? This example is just an imaginary example, but in order for us to avoid this situation, we suggest that we clarify the rules of the game with all the opposition forces right now, and that the rules of the game should be in the form of an opposition declaration, which will be signed by all the forces participating in the elections, so that the scenario of the Yerevan Council of Elders elections will not be repeated in the future,” explains Levon Nazaryan.

The representative of the Republican Party emphasizes that the RPA has an action plan, but it is not correct to talk about it in advance on the air. Levon Nazaryan stressed that despite the decision not to directly participate in the June 7 elections, the RPA will not leave the trenches of the political struggle.

According to Nazaryan’s political assessment, the actions of the current authorities and continuous repressions against the opponents and especially the national forces are, in short, manifestations of weakness and fear, with which this government wants to cement its own power out of fear of losing it.

“They understand very well that the only destination or end point after losing power is responsibility before history and the court. “I assume that the political force “Strong Armenia” or Samvel Karapetyan’s alliance understands what weight it has entered under and for what mission, and the people included in the list and not only those whom we know a part of, are confident that they will be able to overcome these pressures in order to achieve the final victory,” says Nazaryan.

The republican figure states: represented by “Strong Armenia”. The 5-point economic plan maybe it’s attractive for someone, someone else might not like those points, but it’s a secondary issue, the primary task of the opposition is to support the force led by Samvel Karapetyan in order to overcome the ontological threats facing the state under his leadership. Levon Nazaryan considers the criticism of the representatives of the ruling camp to be frivolous, evaluating the Armenian billionaire as one of the benefactors of the Armenian nation and comparing him to Poghos Nubar Pasha (1851-1930), Galust Gulbenkyan (1869-1955), Kirk Kerkorian (1917-2015), Alek Manukyan. (1901-1996) with.

Levon Nazaryan also added. “Samvel Karapetyan is the person who only provided support to the Republic of Armenia, including in the form of finances. Perhaps people have not forgotten the “Electric Yerevan” demonstrations, the processes that followed it, the processes related to military equipment, weapons and ammunition, which is closed information, but being closed information, the weapon that was bought with Samvel Karapetyan’s money for the safety of our compatriots of Artsakh, your government handed over to the enemy. Samvel Karapetyan, as a national philanthropist, funded the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Artsakh to have weapons and ammunition, those weapons and ammunition were there, some of them were shown in Baku during the military parade, and the other part, as a strategist, was handed over to the enemy by your government.”

In this context, referring to yesterday’s incident, the arrest of Gohar Ghumashyan and Verzhine Stepanyan, members of the “Strong Armenia” party, Levon Nazaryan advises the authorities to read literature, noting that when they go to arrest the mother of a two-month-old newborn child, they should understand that it will work against them purely from the perspective of archetypes.

Expressing his opinion, Putin-Pashinyan, which took place in the Kremlin on April 1 meeting and answering the question: why Nikol Pashinyan hastily went to Moscow to meet the President of the Russian Federation, and what message was he sending to the public by his statement that a new meeting with Putin is planned for the second half of June, Levon Nazaryan presented a tentative proposal to the “usurper of power” in connection with the bill passed in Russia a few days ago, which criminalizes the years 1941-45. the denial of the genocide committed by fascist Germany against the Soviet peoples. In connection with this law, Levon Nazaryan reminds about Emin Rasulzadeh, who collaborated with the Nazis, whose statues are erected in the parks of Baku.

“Emin Rasulzadeh is known for the fact that he cooperated with fascist Germany, he created the Azerbaijani Legion, which bloodily suppressed the Polish uprising against the fascist troops in order to meet the Soviet liberation army. Now, based on the logic of this adopted law, dear boy, go, when are you going, what June are you going to go, go and raise that question, tell me, does this person with his historical past and actions completely fall under the logic of the adopted law, I ask you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, to put pressure on Ilham Aliyev so that the statue of Emin Rasulzadeh is removed from Baku. Can he do it or can’t he do it,” added the member of the RPA council.

Full interview in the video.

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168TVof “Trigger” the guest of the program civil technologist Karen Kocharyan is:

During the conversation, the upcoming elections in Armenia, the political technologies used by the authorities, the reaction of the youth to the ongoing processes, pre-election promises, possible trump cards of various political forces, as well as the necessary changes and problems during the election campaign were discussed.

Hayk Derzyan

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