“Strong Armenia” party is not going to sit idly by. The party reacted to the decision to extend the house arrest of businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan.

The anti-corruption court, headed by judge Vardges Stepanyan, decided tonight to satisfy the petition of the head of the investigative team, Spartak Poghosyan, and to extend Samvel Karapetyan’s house arrest for another 1 month.

“A decision was made that proves how much Nikol Pashinyan is afraid of Samvel Karapetyan. We officially announce the launch of a coordinated campaign that includes both local and international steps. without these steps, Armenia’s international reputation will collapse, as it is moving towards autocracy (autocracy), the statement said.

According to the party, Pashinyan is systematically destroying the legitimacy of Armenia as a democratic state.

“We will not sit idly by. In the coming days, we will announce our next concrete steps to restore justice. In three months, Samvel Karapetyan will be the next Prime Minister of Armenia,” the announcement reads.

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While US President Donald Trump and Pentagon chief Pete Hegsett are making bellicose statements, trying to prove once again in each statement that they have eliminated Iran’s military potential, the information in the Lebanese press recently confirms that Iran is putting forward preconditions for the resumption of negotiations.

Representative of the Iranian authorities Mohsen Reza announced that Iran is ready to negotiate the end of the war only under two conditions.

“The end of the war is in our hands. We will consider the issue of ending the war only when, first, we receive full compensation for all our losses from the United States, and second, we receive a 100% guarantee for the future, which is impossible without the withdrawal of the United States from the Persian Gulf,” he said.

The other day Lebanese “Al Mayadeen” TV channel, citing his sources, wrote that Iran rejects mediated ceasefire initiatives and sets its own conditions for starting negotiations with the United States. “Iran rejects all initiatives for a mediated ceasefire because it has conditions and wants real guarantees,” the message stated.

According to the TV channel, the leadership of the Islamic Republic rejects the current proposals of the mediators, considering them insufficient, and insists on clearer obligations. In particular, Tehran demands from the US guarantees of non-aggression in the future, compensation payments and an agreement that Iran will be able to implement a full nuclear fuel cycle in its nuclear power plants.

Foreign Minister of Iran Abbas Araghchi had announced that negotiations between Tehran and Washington would probably not be discussed under the new supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei. On the same day, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharib Abadi announced that several countries, including Russia, China and France, have appealed to Iran for a ceasefire. He emphasized that the first condition of Tehran’s cease-fire is the guarantees of non-repetition of aggression.

Also on March 9 Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian announced that Tehran is ready to ease tensions if the territories of neighboring countries are not used to attack the republic. By the way, on the occasion of the Al-Quds holiday yesterday, there were multi-million marches in the bombed cities of Iran, including the participation of high-ranking leaders, Ali Larijani, Masoud Pezeshkian, Seyed Abbas Araghchi and others.

There are reports from Iran about the preconditions for negotiations, and the President of the United States Donald Trump announces that US forces have “completely destroyed” military installations on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island in one of the most powerful bombings in Middle East history, and the US Navy will soon escort the ships through the Strait of Hormuz. “Minutes ago, at my direction, United States Central Command launched one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East and completely destroyed every MILITARY target on Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social network.

“Our weapons are the most powerful and the most advanced the world has ever known, but for reasons of decency, I have decided not to destroy the oil infrastructure on the island,” the US president added, warning that if Iran “or anyone else” took any action to obstruct shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, he would reconsider his decision. It should be noted that the export terminal of 90 percent of the country’s oil is located on Kharg Island, which is about 25 km from the coast of Iran and about 480 km from the Strait of Hormuz.

And while Trump and Hegsett announce the defeat of Iran, The Wall Street Journal, citing three US officials, reports that the Pentagon is deploying additional Marines and warships to the Middle East in response to increased attacks by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett has approved a request from US Central Command, which is responsible for US forces in the Middle East, to create an amphibious assault group and an attached Marine expeditionary unit, typically consisting of several warships and 5,000 Marines, officials said. The Japan-based USS Tripoli and the Marines attached to it are currently en route to the Middle East, the two officials said. Marines are already in the Middle East, supporting the operation against Iran, the officials added,” the media outlet writes.

168.amin a conversation with Russian military analyst Vladimir Yevseyev said that the statements of the US leadership, especially Trump and Hegsett, that Iran is “crushed”, are mostly a component of the information-propaganda war, rather than a complete description of the situation.

According to him, this is characteristic of the current US President Trump, his staff, and during wars, such rhetoric is often used to give confidence to the domestic audience and to exert psychological pressure on the enemy. However, according to him, the fact that the US continues to involve forces shows that the military and political confrontation is not over, the situation is unstable and unpredictable.

According to Yevseyev, the hardening of rhetoric by Iran is not an immediate sign of defeat or victory.

According to his conviction, in the Iranian military-political culture, the martial language is often used to maintain internal unity and show the politics of resistance in the face of external pressure.

He believes that Tehran always tries to show that it is ready for a long confrontation, even under military pressure. According to him, this approach was formed both from the experience of regional conflicts and from the security doctrine, which emphasizes the strategy of playing on the resistance and time factor.

“It is more likely that both sides are trying to create a beneficial informational and psychological environment against the background of the ongoing military and political struggle. If the standoff drags on, and it drags on, which is believed to be against the US and in Iran’s interests, the decisive factor will be not only the outcome of the military conflict, but also who can more effectively maintain alliances, economic resilience and regional influence.

Naturally, Iran feels more confident in the region, and uses oil inflation as a playing card against the US president, as well as resistance. How correct these calculations will be, time will show better, but the initial plan and calculations of the USA, I think, was not to prolong the situation to this extent,” Yevseyev said.

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After the 44-day war of 2020, as we reported earlier, a criminal case was also initiated against the former First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan (under Part 3 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code adopted on 18.04.2003: negligent attitude towards service).

According to the accusation, having been appointed as the commander of the southern group of troops by the combat order of the head of the RA Armed Forces General Staff, Between October 7-17, 2020, showed a negligent attitude towards the performance of his official duties, that is, he did not create a command point of the southern group with all its elements, during the conduct of combat operations he did not fully perform a number of measures characteristic of management, which inadvertently caused serious consequences.

And the said, according to the Investigative Committee, led to the failure of the defense of the army character of the Armed Forces, undermined the troop management system, failed to fulfill the set combat task, as a result the enemy took advantage of the created situation and unimpededly took possession of a strategic height, broke through the existing terrain, in another case bypassed his own units and, developing the attack, took control of the territories entrusted to the group’s defense:

In this context, let us remind that 168.am-ը՝ “Ashot Pashinyan, his commander during the war, the retreat from Alpasha hill and the case of Tiran Khachatryan” with the text article: was published, where there are notable episodes.

Let’s add that on October 20, 2020 Nikol Pashinyan announced on his Facebook page that «First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan and Major General Andranik Piloyan, Commander of the 5th Army Corps especially during the last hours, on the battlefield, they crowned their name with glory and will be awarded the title of national hero.”

Of course, later after the war, the representatives of the government began to say that the former head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia Onik Gasparyan suggested that they be awarded the title of National Hero of the Republic of Armenia. In other words, Nikol Pashinyan, who declared himself supreme commander during the war, also placed this responsibility on the military leadership. And Tiran Khachatryan did not take the “attributes” of the title of national hero of the RA, the court demanded that Andranik Piloyan take all the titles he had in the context of the non-war criminal case.

Anyway, within the framework of Tiran Khachatryan’s case, let’s look at an important circumstance in the legal dimension, which may be encountered in other cases related to the 44-day period.

It refers to the following questions: was the alleged crime committed outside the territory of the Republic of Armenia or in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, if it was committed in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, where is the place of commission and where should the jurisdiction of the place of commission be?

168.amin the conversation with about this Armen Andrikyan, one of Tiran Khachatryan’s defenders mentioned.

“The problem is as follows. Criminal proceedings of the Code Articles 260 and 261 provide for subject and territorial jurisdiction. The subject matter judgment regulates the specifics of the cases subject to examination by specific courts, for example, the cases subject to examination by the courts of general jurisdiction, and also in connection with the corruption crimes provided by the Criminal Code, which are already examined by the Anti-Corruption Court. This is the objective criticism.

And Article 261 of the Criminal Procedure Code refers to the territorial jurisdiction, according to which, where the alleged crime was committed, the case should be investigated by the court of that territory, regardless of where the investigative authority is.

But the 4th part of that article provides that «Proceedings regarding a crime allegedly committed on the territory of another state are subject to the court in whose jurisdiction the last place of residence or registration of the accused is located, and if it was not possible to determine it, then to the court in whose jurisdiction the seat of the preliminary investigation body that last conducted the pre-trial proceedings is located. There is no other legal norm here, that is, the Code of Criminal Procedure clearly defines it.

Now, if they consider that the territory of the Republic of Artsakh is the territory of Azerbaijan, under these conditions, for example, in the case of Tiran Khachatryan, it turns out that the alleged crime was committed “in the territory of another state”. and in this case, according to Article 261, Part 4 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the case should be examined at Tiran Khachatryan’s address of residence or registration, but the case is examined in the court of first instance of Syunik region:

We raised this issue during the court session, we were told that there is some document, I don’t know what it is about, or it is an accepted practice that the crimes committed in Artsakh should be investigated in the court of general jurisdiction of Syunik region, but we did not receive any other exhaustive answer. I would like to add that all this was said in the discussion on the issue of the counter-judgment within the framework of the preliminary proceedings, and we moved on, the court did not change the counter-judgment, of course, we are not facing a problem at this moment., but a legal problem, in general, I see here.”

Let us add that on February 18, 2025, at the first court session in the case of Tiran Khachatryan, lawyer Andrikyan to observation.

“In the legal dimension, the territory of the Republic of Armenia is the territory under the legislation of the jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia. It is stated in the indictment: in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Now let’s understand whether it is the territory of the Republic of Armenia, do you have the authority to investigate the case, or should it be investigated by the place of residence, the act was committed outside the territory of the Republic of Armenia?”

The prosecution responded that in 2020 according to the logic of November 9, the Republic of Armenia was the guarantor of the security of the RA Armed Forces stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“There is no question of subordination, and at least from a moral point of view, I think that the alleged crime took place in Artsakh, in the territory under the control of the RA, at least from a military point of view.” the prosecutor continued.

By the way, later, during the court session in the case of Tiran Khachatryan, when the issue of changing the restraining order was discussed, the prosecution The RA Armed Forces considered it a small social group where, perhaps, according to his logic, the hierarchical bond is strong. 

These are delicate issues that, in fact, involve certain risks that we would not like to “open up”.

And Tiran Khachatryan’s lawyer informed us that at the moment the court case is at the stage of questioning witnesses.

“Currently, more than 10 witnesses have been questioned. Among the witnesses subpoenaed in the case are Onik Gasparyan, Artak Budaghyan, the former head of the RA Armed Forces General Staff, both of whom have not yet been interrogated.”

Earlier we wrote that the number of witnesses exceeds two dozen.

It should be noted that according to information, Artak Budaghyan himself testified against Tiran Khachatryan. 

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If in the past Nikol Pashinyan could fire the ministers and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan with one “sms”, today without such “luxury” – a message – he can directly instruct any person to write an application for dismissal. The other day, he gave a similar instruction to the former director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Edita Gzoyan, who “dared” to present a book about Artsakh to US Vice President Vance during his visit to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex.

Artak Beglaryan, former state minister of Artsakh, human rights defender he is not surprised by any move of Nikol Pashinyan.

“This is not surprising, sometimes the opposite behavior is surprising when the government does something outside of its norms.

The surprising thing here is that the government of RA is becoming more and more petty, they even go after the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute to give the US Vice President some obscure book. You would go and accompany, control so that nothing like this would happen, and then don’t forget to change the name of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.” of 168.am Artak Beglaryan said in a conversation with Artak Beglaryan, adding, isn’t it clear that if Edita Gzoyan was the director of that museum, and if the crimes committed against Artsakh Armenians and Azerbaijani Armenians are included in the subject of research and activity of that museum, then the latter acted within the scope of her powers, presenting all of that.

“Edita Gzoya acted very correctly, as an Armenian scientist and an Armenian, I respect her. But on the other hand, this pettiness of the RA government has no limits, I’m just sorry that after Nikol Pashinyan’s instruction, Edita Gzoyan agreed and wrote an application. He should not have written an application and should have argued in court, proving in court that he was right. I think the entire staff of the museum should actively stand up and protect their rights first, and then the dignity of all of us,” emphasized Artak Beglaryan.

Let’s remind that after last Thursday’s Cabinet session, Nikol Pashinyan said in a press conference with journalists that on his instructions, Edita Gzoyan wrote an application for release, because the latter gave a book about Artsakh to the US vice president.

On March 11, Edita Gzoyan wrote an application for dismissal, a few days later Hrachya Tashchyan, who was once in the staff of Nikol Pashinyan, head of the Department of Foreign Relations, was appointed as the acting director of her museum. Yesterday, in a conversation with one of the media, he said that they will do as Nikol Pashinyan says.

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Only God’s mercy can sustain us. All this was readable a long time ago, the way of working was simple. It was clear from their behavior during the war that Armenia was not their homeland. They were bought, and now who will unmask them? They are bought head and foot, until their last breath. First of all, we are carriers of a specific nation, and being a specialist is not a reason to renounce the nation, let alone the motherland. The motherland is not to blame for anything, the state is to blame. We have a wonderful homeland and an ugly state. 168TVof « expressed such an opinion during the program director Artur Sahakyan.

“Not all of them agree with what they do, but one thing is that they do it. They cannot help it, they are under orders. We may have lost the gene of statehood, we just lost it. We hear that a thousand years ago we were deprived of statehood, and there was no other statehood except Cilicia. But no one cries over it. The loss of Artsakh will be written in the same way. People close loans, so what should they do? The only positive news is that everything came to the surface. “Nzhdeh gave us the plan for living in a state of war, which was then used by the Jews,” said the artist.

“They inject it with side conversations and false debates, and we accept that foreign blood. There is very little of our blood left. Is it in your heart to live in fear like this? All this transition is for the sake of money. There are many powerful people, but evil is aggressive and conspicuous. Perhaps this is the necessary amount of suffering that each of us will have to bear. Everything must come to an end one day, and yet, good is much stronger, although evil is also very cunning, very powerful. Lying is their specialty. A part of the heavenly kingdom is placed in all of us: conscience and soul,” Sahakyan noted.

According to the director, they had eight years to come to their senses. “Who do we see converted?” They have the Herostratus syndrome, the important thing is that the names remain in history. Where does this hatred for your roots come from? It’s a terribly difficult situation, but by opposing them, one should not go crazy, one should find the balance. Theaters have become buildings for daily rent, what else is logic or aesthetics? Renting the theater stage for one day costs from 500 thousand to 1 million 300 thousand drams. At one time, they at least kept the formal side, but now they say, “What about our bonuses?”

“When they give a bonus, they buy you. That inferiority complex and servility is not only our disease, but the artist should be ashamed of being like that, he should be free and rebellious, not agree with anything.

An artist should always be an opponent, but they say that an opportunity has barely fallen into my hands, I should not lose it suddenly. You will lose, you will definitely lose, everything will end one day. Everything has become small. Look at the levels then and today. Let’s say, instead of de Gaulle, it is Macron today,” said Artur Sahakyan.

Details in the video

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For a long time, experts in the field of health care, doctors have been warning that the universal medical insurance implemented in RA has not been implemented properly, it has brought with it many problems, which the department coordinating the sector, the Government do not want to pay attention to in any way.

For example, one of the problems is that after the introduction of this system, the workload of doctors has increased, but their salary has remained the same.

Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Garik Aghabekyan in other words, what the Ministry of Health is doing today is haste, they are doing everything hastily, they are in a hurry.

“They do it just to fill the eyes and ears of the people, saying, ‘Look, look, we are doing work for you.’ I think all these are pre-election steps and they do more harm than good to the industry.

I agree that everyone should be insured, and that is a good thing, but, dear friends, the insurance that you do is the elite of the ministry: the minister, the deputy or, I don’t know, the head of the department, have they gone to the hospitals, polyclinics, have they seen the situation? We understand, they tell the people, the pensioners, that it is free, but have they seen the queues in the hospitals, man, aren’t those doctors guilty? How can a doctor admit so many patients in a day? Don’t they think that because of making a decision quickly, they compromise the quality?” 168.amGarik Aghabekyan said in a conversation with

According to the professor, a doctor who works very hard in the hospital, has a family, children, when he works so much, one day he may ask himself: why, why should the work increase, but the salary remains the same?

“We understand, a person loves his profession, took an oath to be a doctor, loves his homeland, but he should not work like that. Raise the doctor’s salary, let them calculate, understand, give a normal salary.

Medicine has 3 pillars: availability, quality and affordability. Now we have access, everyone goes to the doctor, waits for their turn, and the doctor accepts them. Especially among our people, it is accepted that what is free, everyone goes to use it, regardless of whether they need it or not. Medicine should not be like this, they will not get quality with this, they increase employment and there is no quality. We don’t get the quality, but the availability, go to hospitals and polyclinics and you will see,” emphasized our interlocutor.

According to Garik Aghabekyan, if the situation in the healthcare system continues like this, then people’s faith in doctors will decrease, moreover, there will not be such a quality that when a person wants to receive medical care, he simply will not receive it.

“They should give the doctors a normal salary and say: go do your job, suffer.

If this continues, our best doctors will simply leave Armenia and work abroad. Today, many doctors are looking for work abroad, all of them are tired of this situation, the same doctors say that we suffer so much, we get little salary, when they can do the same work in Europe, in Moscow, and get four times as much,” emphasized Garik Aghabekyan.

He is sure that the Ministry of Health will not take these issues into account in general, so he raises a rhetorical question: has there been any improvement during the tenure of the minister in charge of the sector?

“Previously, regional hospitals were under the care of head offices, this was abolished, now all regional hospitals are under the Ministry of Health. In other words, does the minister have so much time, is he so informed about the condition of regional hospitals, managers, chief doctors, that he is able to control? I think this is a fairy tale. Previously, the governorates barely managed all that, now can the minister bear all the weight?

It is sad, but I think it is a norm for the current authorities that we have a Minister of Health who is not a doctor. Let them bring the builder and appoint him the director of the hospital, what happened, he has a good education? It is not allowed. Without that, our health care system was in a dilapidated state, there is no need to demolish it, if they cannot strengthen it, at least preserve the existing one,” emphasized Garik Aghabekyan.

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From the beginning, Pashinyan’s administration refused any strategy, particularly related to Armenia’s national security. The working style of Pashinyan’s government is strategic incompetence. About this 168TVof Revue mentioned on the air of the program Member of the “HayaVote” national-civil unification department, former chairman of the Military Industry Committee (2018-2020) Avetik Kerobyanspeaking about the concept of the national security strategy of Armenia presented by “HayaVote” the previous day and the topic of threats to Armenia’s security.

Avetik Kerobyan reminds that the RA national security strategy document was last adopted in 2007, and in 2020, a few months before the 44-day war, the document with the same title, published by Nikol Pashinyan’s administration, did not receive legal status.

According to Kerobyan, “HayaVote” has adopted a set of national interests in its proposed concept of the national security strategy of the Republic of Armenia as the cornerstone of building a lasting security and a lasting Armenian state. By developing this strategy, as he stated during the presentation of the concept, they aim to “turn from food at the table into an eater, from a topic of conversation into a conversation leader”.

As Avetik Kerobyan comments, the concept mentions the increase in the probability of regional conflicts and the possibility of Armenia’s territory becoming the scene of these conflicts as an external threat.

In this context, speaking about the US-Israel-Iran military operations that have been going on for two weeks and the threats arising from them, the former head of the military-industrial complex of Armenia emphasized that we are dealing with a large-scale war.

“This is a real war. The United States and Israel have failed to achieve their primary goal of regime change, and quite the opposite has happened, with a new leader filled with a thirst for revenge and radicalized from the start coming to power. We are dealing with a government full of thirst for revenge, and judging by what is happening, it is a situation contrary to the goals of the United States and Israel, and parallel to this attack, a very strong internal consolidation is taking place in Iran,” the interlocutor notes.

According to Kerobyan, the Iran-US-Israel conflict is an element of a “great war”. He believes that the Iran-Israel conflict, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, India-Pakistan, India-China, Russia-Ukraine and other well-known conflicts are enough to call all this a world war.

“Considering what is happening in the world with the participation of the United States, it is already a world war, which has not yet taken the form we used to call a world war, that is, large coalitions have not been formed and these coalitions are not clashing with each other, but its turn will come,” concludes the expert.

According to our interlocutor, China is very seriously preparing for a conflict with the United States.

Avetik Kerobyan sees clear dangers in the backdrop of the Iranian war. According to Kerobyan, the Turks are waiting for an opportune moment to cut off Syunik from Armenia. According to him, Turkey and Azerbaijan will most likely engage in a ground operation against Iran if the United States and Israel make such a demand to them.

“Turkey is playing a very skillful diplomatic game, as always, although it is clear that Turkey’s military infrastructure can be used at any time to escalate an attack against Iran, and I think that they will go to war against Iran if they calculate that they can digest it, that is, it will not cause them harm or harm that is not acceptable. There is a clear danger for us here. if the northern and western fronts were opened in the ground war against Iran, Turkey will most likely take the short border between Armenia and Iran under military control with the tacit or active consent of the USA, and this is fraught with irreversible consequences. Turks, as you know, consider that wherever a Turkish soldier steps, it is “Turkish land”.

And they are just waiting for a suitable opportunity to cut off Syunik from Armenia. We need to clearly understand these threats and clearly imagine what we need to face them. The most important thing is to understand our interest and have a government in the country that pursues that interest,” Avetik Kerobyan predicts and analyzes.

Full interview in the video.

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