Category: News

Yesterday, the government delegation of Azerbaijan, led by Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafaev, arrived in Yerevan.

This sentence is a story about another, but new level of humiliation of Armenia, which makes the purpose of the delegation’s visit, the format of the meetings, the expected results, etc., unimportant. Yerevan was visited by a delegation led by a high-ranking official of the state that officially disrespects Armenia, and was not only not reprimanded, but, according to everything, was welcomed at the highest level.

The problem is not the visits of officials, which not only can, but must happen in the case of warring countries. The whole point is, however, that the war with Azerbaijan is not only not over yet, but continues in various forms. It continues one-sidedly, in the conditions of vehement joy sent from Armenia in response to every war act of Azerbaijan.

The CP government, which especially recently specialized in the “hybrid” wars, tearing itself from morning to night about fighting against the target of the “hybrid war” without an address, does not reveal the secret about the Armenian cultural and historical heritage being destroyed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh.

Moreover, the most prominent member of the CP recently officially assured that he will continue to remain anonymous, and another, not so prominent, but prominent member of the CP, who is pro-Azerbaijani, indirectly said that what Azerbaijan has done is its internal matter.

Historical and cultural heritage is not the only direction of vandalism, which Azerbaijan deals with non-stop. Every day, without exception, about two dozen of our compatriots are subjected to vandalism in Baku prisons, about whom the CP authorities have forgotten.

It has not been announced yet, but in the near future it will be said that judging them and sentencing them to life imprisonment is also an internal matter of Azerbaijan. Under these conditions, the high-ranking delegation of Azerbaijan arrives in Armenia, which is nothing more than a visit of the princes of the conquering country to their own vassals.

The Armenian people leveled their dignity with the bodies of thousands of victims of the Artsakh war. The current government is, yes, a walking monument of Armenian indignity, or rather, a walking monument of motorcades.

But that same nation is no less a collective of indignity, which tolerates, on the one hand, its own sons and with them, those who are guilty of the funeral of their own dignity, on the other hand, all those who, as if fighting against the first ones, push the last crumbs of dignity deeper into the ground.

Harutyun Avetisyan

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In this year’s Reporters Without Borders report, Armenia has worsened its position, appearing in 34th place out of 50. It is noted that despite Armenia’s diverse media field, it remains polarized.

“The country is facing an unprecedented level of misinformation and hate speech, fueled by internal political tensions, border security issues and Armenia’s difficult position between Russia and the European Union,” the international organization assessed.

According to Reporters Without Borders, journalism as a profession in Armenia is often devalued and subject to hate speech, with politicians accusing journalists of “corruption” or serving the interests of their opponents.

“Journalists are often subjected to pressure, insults, and violence both by government officials and opposition politicians and their supporters, in parliament, on the street, and on social media,” the report said.

Human rights activists note that cases of violence against journalists often go unpunished.

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Artak Zakaryan, member of the Executive Body (GM) of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), former first deputy of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, writes. “In 2026, national elections will be held in around 50 countries of the world (USA, Russia, Germany, Israel, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Latvia, Slovenia, Brazil, Colombia, etc.).

However, none of them will be fatal for the given country. And only our parliamentary elections on June 7 will be fatal for the existence of the Republic of Armenia.

God forbid that CP gets the right to form a government again. In that case, you can consider that the last creation of the sovereign Republic of Armenia will be “recorded” in the following years.

You can consider that Armenia will come under the military-political and economic pressure of (Russia, Iran, China vs. (Azerbaijan, Central Asian countries, Turkey, the collective West). The “crossroads of peace” invented by the CP will turn into a “threat of regional conflict”. Follow the developments around Iran and Ukraine, try to analyze it, and it will not be difficult to understand how, by keeping the CP in power, they will create a “casus belle” for a new conflict in the South Caucasus. It is obvious that they were not satisfied with Artsakh, it was only the first steps in the implementation of the Panturanism program.

With the re-election of the CP, you can be sure that the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia have again been put into question.

Dear conscious citizens with the right to vote,

The worst consequence of the previous two elections was the cynical attitude of Artsakh. This became possible with the results of the 2018 and 2021 elections. Turkey and Azerbaijan won those elections.

Please, do not let them play with the fate of the Republic of Armenia in the upcoming elections. Be sure to go to the election, choose carefully and remember that the choice of each of you is fatal. Remember that if we make a mistake, we will not have another Motherland and state. Remember Artsakh, so that with your vote, Armenia will not suffer the same fate.”

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Arman Tatoyan, the chairman of the “Wings of Unity” party, criticized the authorities for not providing sufficient information regarding the border delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to him, yesterday the society was informed about the arrival of the Azerbaijani plane at the “Zvartnots” airport, but no official clear explanations were given regarding the purpose of that visit.

“Yesterday we woke up and saw an Azerbaijani plane at Zvartnots airport, and all we had to do was guess what that plane was doing in Yerevan. Later in the day, the government spread information that a meeting of the border delimitation commission between Armenia and Azerbaijan took place, but there was no information in that statement about what the commission discussed,” Tatoyan said.

“The issue of demarcation is of vital importance for our security, and the public has the right to know its details,” Tatoyan said, calling for the transparency of the process.

“Why don’t you publish information?” In the statement of that commission, it is only information that they still agreed to instruct the governments to establish guidelines. Can you imagine they will have to apply for a new guide to approve it?”

Tatoyan said that the public has the right to know what is happening with the most important security issues.

Details in the video.

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For two days, it has been actively discussed in the Armenian mass media that a large batch of “Jermuk” was blocked in Russia, violations were found. The other day, it became known that the state marking system “Honest Mark” (“Честный знак”) suspended the sale of the batch of Armenian “Jermuk” mineral water in offline and online stores.

As Revaz Yusupov, deputy general director of the Center for the Development of Prospective Technologies, told RBC, there were 338,000 bottles in circulation, which are now blocked until the end of the inspection.

The reason for the suspension of circulation was the letter of “Rospotrebnadzor”, in which the agency pointed out the need to “immediately take measures to prevent possible harm to the lives and health of the citizens of the Russian Federation”. The reason for the blocking was “violations of mandatory requirements”. 2026 was banned. February 17 and 2026 products with production dates of March 5.

The SATM referred to this information, noting that the inspection body has not yet received any official information, a letter, from the relevant bodies of the Russian Federation, “Rospotrebnadzor” or “Rosselkhoznadzor”.

The department informed that measures are being taken to clarify the situation and take appropriate steps, the results will be published. There is no clarity on this issue, whether the product contains violations, or whether a political decision was made in Russia to send another signal to the RA authorities.

It is no secret that the European integration agenda adopted by the RA authorities is of great concern to the Russian authorities. At the meeting with Nikol Pashinyan in the Kremlin on April 1, Vladimir Putin announced that they see that a discussion is underway in Armenia regarding the development of relations with the EU.

“We treat it completely calmly, we understand that any country strives to get the maximum benefit from cooperation with third countries. However, it should be obvious, it should be honestly stated in advance, as they say, from the beginning, that being in the customs union with the European Union and being in the EAEU is impossible. It is simply impossible,” Putin said.

He noted that the issue is not even political, but purely economic in nature. “Because some issues require a lot of joint work, which should be carried out for years. It is the difference in the evaluation of individual product groups, the entrance of these groups to the market. It is the phytosanitary control for all products. Phytosanitary requirements in Russia and European Union countries are completely different, significantly different.

After the Pashinyan-Putin meeting in the Kremlin, there was also an interview of the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk. By the way, Overchuk is the figure who constantly talks about the decline of Russian business interest in Armenia due to the RA-EU integration decision, the incompatibility of EAEU-EU standards at a certain stage, and business problems.

In his interview, Overchuk noted that Pashinyan openly stated that Russian business in the republic is not under threat, but the facts speak otherwise. “Last summer, we asked the Prime Minister of Armenia a direct question about the prospects of Russian investors in Armenia. A direct answer was given to our direct question: nothing threatens Russian business in RA. The facts say the opposite. We see ourselves being told one thing, but in reality something completely different is happening.

First, the property rights of a Russian businessman who had interests in electricity purchase and retail trade were violated, and now an offer was made to the Russian state company to sell the concession,” he said, referring to the situation surrounding the national philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, as well as Pashinyan’s proposal to transfer the Russian concession of the South Caucasian Railway to a third party.

As Overchuk mentioned, Moscow realizes that, in addition to pro-Westerners, there are people in Armenia who want to reduce relations with the Russian Federation and remove Russian business from the republic. Therefore, according to him, conversations about the undesirability of the presence of Russian companies in Armenia will raise the issue of the work of Armenian businesses in Russia.

“The reality is that the Armenian railway, if it is preserved, should remain a road serving the needs of its own economy, the real prospects of which are connected with the EAEU. Our interest is to increase trade with Armenia, as well as with all the states of the region, but if we are told that the presence of Russian companies in Armenia does not correspond to Armenia’s interests, then, based on the principle of reciprocity, it would be fair to ask: if Russian companies and businessmen cannot be present and earn in Armenia, then why Armenian companies and businessmen can be present and earn in Russia,” he said.

The Pashinyan-Putin meeting was followed by Pashinyan’s meeting with major Armenian businessmen on April 13. At that meeting, among a number of other issues, according to reports, Pashinyan tried to dispel the concerns of Armenian businessmen regarding possible business problems in the Russian Federation, noting that they are temporary, as the already established peace will open new opportunities for Armenian business abroad in the near future.

Perhaps, many people understand that the prospect of lifting the blockade with Azerbaijan and Turkey promises a dim prospect for Armenian business, to put it mildly, especially when the so-called Yerevan-Baku peace is not documented, and the Armenian cultural and religious heritage is under attack in Artsakh, which is a unique form of war. Therefore, the Russian market will be a key market for Armenian business for a long time.

However, it is important to understand that, if earlier Russian displeasure was expressed exclusively at the level of diplomatic statements, then the blocking of a large batch of “Jermuk” mineral water proves that the Kremlin is already moving to the stage of practical warnings. The blocking of Armenian products by the Russian federal authorities under the pretext of quality control is an element of the “trade war”, which Moscow has repeatedly used in the case of a number of other countries.

The targeting of “Jermuk” does not seem to be accidental, as it is one of the most recognizable brands of Armenian exports, so by creating a problem for this brand, Russia is sending a message to the entire Armenian business community, showing that any sector of mass consumption can come under attack.

The official claims of the Russian side that EU membership is not compatible with EAEU have both legal and political implications. The EAEU single customs zone implies common external tariffs, and any rapprochement with the EU may lead to the elimination of existing preferential regimes. Moscow openly hints that if Armenia adopts European standards, Armenian products will immediately lose confidence in the Russian market due to technical inconsistency.

The suspension of the “Jermuk” batch should be considered as a clear signal that the Russian market is no longer guaranteed. In the near future, Armenian business may face new sanitary barriers, detection of “sudden” deterioration of the quality of agricultural products by “Rosselkhoznadzor” and other problems. All this proves that the Armenian business is facing a new reality. If Armenia continues the policy of rapprochement with the EU, and it most likely will continue, the case of “Jermuk” may become a precedent. Therefore, the Armenian private sector should be ready for surprises in Russia.

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Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin issued a statement. “The Mother See of St. Etchmiadzin strongly condemns the statement of the Department of Muslims of the Caucasus, which attempts to justify the destruction of the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage of Artsakh by the Azerbaijani authorities, in particular, the destruction of the foundation of the St.

The desecration, usurpation or destruction of holy places cannot be justified by any political, administrative or false legal formulation. Calling the churches built during the period of Artsakh independence “illegal constructions” is unacceptable, and destroying the sanctuaries on that basis, razing them to the ground, is a clear violation of the international principles of protection of religious and cultural heritage and cultural abuse.

The accusation of the Department of Muslims of the Caucasus against the Armenian Church regarding the obstruction of the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is clearly unfounded and false. Peace is hindered by the falsification of the historical truth, the violation of the rights of forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians, the usurpation of Artsakh’s Armenian heritage and the consistent erasure of the Armenian trace.

Mother See Holy Etchmiadzin calls on international religious and human rights organizations, all responsible structures for the protection of cultural heritage to take active steps to stop the planned policy of destruction of Armenian culture by Azerbaijan.

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The Central Electoral Commission of RA convened a session on the agenda of incompletely presented documents of the political forces nominated to participate in the regular elections of the National Assembly on June 7, 2026, at the extraordinary session of April 30.

According to the Electoral Code constitutional law, the commission gave 48 hours to the nominated parties to complete the incompletely filled documents. Incompletely completed documents can be corrected until May 2 at 18:00.

Those entities are:

“NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC POLY” ALL-ARMENIAN PARTY

ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY

“REPUBLIC” PARTY

“ALLIANCE” PROGRESSIVE CENTRIST PARTY

DEMOCRACY LAW DISCIPLINE PARTY

COCHAR NATIONAL REVIVAL AND AWAKENING OF THE NATION PARTY

ALLIANCE OF DEFENDERS OF DEMOCRACY FOR THE REPUBLIC” PARTY

“NEW FORCE” REFORMIST PARTY

The registration of the electoral lists of nominated parties/alliances will be carried out in the extraordinary session of May 3.

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Yesterday, on April 29, the delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Demarcation and Demarcation Commission Shahin Mustafayev arrived in Armenia.

Armenia first learned about this from the Azerbaijani media, then the Armenian Foreign Ministry confirmed the information without revealing the details of the visit. Then it became known that the delegation led by Mutafaev was taken to Aghvera, where there was also a meeting with Armenian businessmen.

Today, after the Government session, Nikol Pashinyan said that the list of mutual trade between Armenian and Azerbaijani businessmen was initially transferred through the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but now both sides communicate without intermediaries. He also said that he is aware of which Armenian businessmen met with Azerbaijanis under the pretext of not targeting them, but he could not name names.

international scholar, “HayaVote” member Menua Soghomonyani According to him, there is no information regarding the visit of the delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan to Armenia, therefore, one can make assumptions about the purpose of the visit.

“Mutafaev is the person who coordinates the so-called demarcation and demarcation processes from the Azerbaijani side. Naturally, here we are talking about some kind of arrangements to continue that process, but this can be an assumption, since we do not know any information related to the visit. But it can be assumed that Azerbaijanis, who bet on Pashinyan and support Nikol Pashinyan’s re-election in every possible way, have something to gain.

At this stage, the demands of Azerbaijan will refer to Tigranashen, Verin Voskepar, the adjacent areas of Azatamut, which are conventionally called Sofulu and Barkhudarlu. This is my rational assumption, and the agenda should be about these issues, moreover, we see that they are in some kind of secret agreements.” 168.amMenua Soghomonyan said in a conversation with

According to our interlocutor, using the current pre-election period, the events in it, when various forces are focused on their pre-election organizational issues, they probably chose a suitable period to secure some agreements with Azerbaijan.

Regarding the news circulating since yesterday that Mustafayev had expressed his desire to be in Jujevan village of Noyemberyan region, where he was born during the Soviet Union, and considering in this context the problem of Artsakh Armenians who do not have the opportunity to go to Artsakh and visit the graves of the deceased, Menua Soghomonyan said that the Armenian nation has fallen into a big trap built by Pashinyan-Aliev, and this trap is being served to the public. as peace. Mustafaev’s visit to Armenia is presented in that “sauce” of peace.

“It is impermissible to give consent to Mustafaev’s visit to Jujevan, it is impermissible at all levels. People who are patriotic and have a sense of statehood will not agree, and if they don’t agree, everything happens with violence. Probably, what pro-Azerbaijani programs were conducted during this entire period, they were conducted through violence. Although there was resistance, they managed to pass. Even now, they are taking advantage of this pre-election period and they want to wrap their agenda around the neck of the people once again,” emphasized the international expert.

He also emphasized that today Pashinyan and Aliyev want to wrap everything in “peace”, including the upcoming visit of representatives of the European community to Yerevan and everything that is happening around Armenia today.

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On April 28, a meeting of the Armenia-Turkey joint working group for the restoration and operation of the Gyumri-Kars railway took place in Kars.

In the context of the expansion of transport communications in the region, the parties emphasized the importance of the early launch of the Gyumri-Kars railway.

This statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia was followed by the statements of the EU and the USA that they welcome the concrete steps taken in the direction of reopening the economic and public relations between Armenia and Turkey.

On the American side, in addition to the US Embassy in RA, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barak also responded to this event, considering the meeting of the Armenia-Turkey joint working group and the agreements on the restoration and operation of the Gyumri-Kars railway as an important milestone for regional communication and peace.

“Armenian and Turkish officials met in Kars, Turkey to announce the creation of a joint task force to repair the Kars-Gyumri railway, a vital trade and transit link that united the region for more than a century until the last train crossed the Turkey-Armenia border in July 1993.” X noted on his page he

And what question does the restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway solve for Armenia, Turkey and the entire South Caucasus? Is this a purely economic project or a geopolitical one?

On the mentioned issues 168.amhas talked Analytical “Base”. of the center expert Shiraz Khachatryan with

– It is clear that the restoration of the Kars-Gyumri railway is primarily a geopolitical game, where each interested party tries to strengthen its position in the region.

The “optimistic” agenda presented by the Armenian authorities actually collides with the hard logic of geopolitics, where any infrastructure for other actors first of all turns into a tool of influence, and for us, you don’t know what?

In essence, any theoretical route through Armenia is considered for the West from the point of view of a channel bypassing Russia and Iran. And here a double situation is created for Armenia. on the one hand, talk of economic activation, and on the other, new addictions. The factor of Turkey is especially sensitive, the operation of the railway can form a disproportionate interdependence, where Ankara theoretically gets leverage to influence the economic viability of Armenia.

At the same time, the project can reshape the regional balance, especially for Georgia. The activation of the Kars-Gyumri direction reduces the “exclusivity” of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which will inevitably affect the transit role of Tbilisi and may cause tension in Armenian-Georgian relations. However, the key issue remains the issue of control. as long as the railway system of Armenia is governed by the agreements concluded with Russia, the talk about “sovereign infrastructure” will become limited.

The lack of technical and operational control means that any geopolitical pressure can quickly turn into practical constraints. In any case, if the blockade is not accompanied by clear political guarantees, security mechanisms and real control over the infrastructure, then it can turn into a new form of dependence rather than development.

– Last year Kars–Put it on–Do it–Diluju railway construction of the program in context one other in the interview talk we are Gyumri–Akhuryan sector recovery of necessity about: At that time you noticed that Along with the information about the construction project of the Kars-Igdir-Aralek-Diluju railway, official announcements are silent about the Gyumri-Akhuryan section, which contradicts the “Crossroads of Peace” initiative presented by Pashinyan himself, one of the components of which was the restarting of that railway.

Moreover, you mentioned that if it becomes possible to bypass Armenia with the Azerbaijani-Turkish plan, having a direct railway exit from Turkey to Nakhichevan, then in that case, Armenia is left out of the regional logistics map, and the promised, so to speak, crossroads of peace actually turns into a one-way crossing line, which Armenia is not the beneficiary of.

More late in February of this year, Armenian side russian side with to discuss was Gyumri–Akhurik–Turkey and: Pledge–Nakhichevan railway infrastructures recovery the questions: Time will tell what will happen in the final calculation.

– The projects you mentioned fit into Turkey’s long-term strategy aimed at deepening its influence in the South Caucasus and expanding control over regional communications. It is clear that Ankara today seeks not only to open new channels, but also to form a transport architecture in which it is the key hub and intermediary, connecting Transcaucasia with Central Asia and the wider Turkish-speaking world. Especially important is the fact that Turkey, by creating bypass communication channels, is trying to reduce the geographical “isolation” factor of Armenia, not for the sake of Armenia’s interests, but for the purpose of strengthening its own regional positions.

In other words, Armenia is brought out of “isolation”, but at the same time it is involved in the system of other dependencies, where the key levers of control are located in external centers.

In this logic, the Gyumri-Akhuryan direction is seen as an additional access for Turkey to the territory of Armenia and the region, while the Yeraskh-Nakhijevan section has a wider strategic importance in connection with ensuring a direct connection between Azerbaijan and Turkey. This second direction is already included in the processes that are often characterized as “corridor politics”, where the priority is not the sovereign control of the given state, but the fast and uninterrupted transit for external actors. In the context of all this, the rhetoric about overcoming Armenia’s isolation can actually turn into a new geopolitical arrangement, where the country is not freed from restrictions, but appears at the crossroads of various influences, especially those distributed among Turkish forces.

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