April 1, 2026
During the discussion about the US-Israeli war against Iran and its impact on the South Caucasus, senior researcher of APRI Armenia Analytical Center, candidate of historical sciences, Beniamin Poghosyan stated that Turkey wants to do everything not to get involved in this war, despite the cases of missile launches by Iran in the direction of its airspace, which, of course, still need to be investigated.
“There is a clear perception in Turkey that this is not Turkey’s war, and everything should be done to avoid direct involvement. And secondly, everything must be done to prevent the partition of Iran, because there are serious concerns in Turkey that in case of any partition of Iran, Turkey will have another Kurdish autonomy in Iran, where the number of Kurds is much larger than in Syria. If we talk about the humanitarian consequences, they are limited enough for now,” he continued, adding that at the moment, the events are not developing in a scenario where the situation will go out of the control of the Iranian authorities, which will lead to a large influx of refugees. flow, which cannot bypass Armenia either.
“There is no flow of refugees, moreover, there is no such information either from Turkey, Iran, or Azerbaijan,” Beniamin Poghosyan said.
Referring to the impact of the war on Armenia-Azerbaijan, Armenia-Turkey relations, according to the political scientist, here we have approximately the same situation as after August 8, 2025, when the Washington Declaration was signed.
“The risk of a new military escalation on the part of Azerbaijan remains zero. But also, Baku continues to link the signing of the final peace agreement with the amendment of the RA constitution, in particular with the removal of the reference to the Declaration of Independence from the constitution. And the complete regulation of Armenian-Turkish relations, including the complete opening of the border, then Turkey’s position here is the same, it will be only after the final signing and ratification of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty,” Poghosyan explained.
Details in the video
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How can the TRIPP project change in the background of the war against Iran? clarification
April 1, 2026
During the discussion about the US-Israeli war against Iran and its consequences in the South Caucasus, researchers of the “APRI Armenia” analytical center reflected on the impact of this war on the TRIPP project.
Sergey Melkonyan, expert of the center, candidate of historical sciences, internationalist, Israelologist, drew attention to two formats.
“Firstly, the TRIPP project can be delayed because there are many risks, secondly, it will change in some way if we don’t know what the situation will be in Iran. Officials have already said about the delay that the interest from the US is decreasing, therefore, the project may be delayed. As for how the project can be changed, there are several problems here. firstly, what will be the situation in Iran if the current government remains and some kind of agreement is reached with the USA, secondly, if some kind of chaos is created in Iran,” he elaborated, not excluding that there could be an Iran-US agreement and TRIPP could come true, but taking into account Iran’s concerns.
In turn, political scientist Beniamin Poghosyan added that we were not in such a situation that it was already clearly decided that the railway construction will begin on May 1, 2026.
“Armenia and the USA are in a rather complicated legal process,” he stressed.
Details in the video
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Armen Ashotyan knows about the disgraceful arrest applied to Davit Minasyan
April 1, 2026
Armen Ashotyan writes on his Facebook page that he properly informed his colleagues of the European People’s Party about the disgraceful arrest applied to student Davit Minasyan.
“Let the European capitals know well how Nikol Pashinyan is “preparing” for the EU-Armenia summit in May,” wrote Armen Ashotyan.
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Davit Minasyan, who did not enter the Armavir Penitentiary, his consciousness
April 1, 2026
Davit Minasyan did not enter the Armavir Penitentiary, he lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital. lawyer Lusine Martirosyan informs about this on her Facebook page.
He was transferred to “Armavir” medical center.
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Did you act with a conscience? You are disturbing me. Mnatsakan Martirosyan ran away
April 1, 2026
18-year-old Davit Minasyan, who was arrested on Sunday in the case of the St. Anna church incident, was detained for two months. The court, chaired by Mnatsakan Martirosyan, satisfied the petition of the investigator.
Hours after the decision 168․amhad the opportunity to ask questions to the judge who visited the bank on his own business during working hours. A short Q&A is below.
– Did you act according to your conscience?
– You are disturbing me now.
– You know, don’t you, that today’s decision was emotionally reacted to by various public circles․ You actually deprived a school-aged boy of his freedom.
– You can’t pursue this order.
– I’m not chasing, I’m just raising questions, the opportunity has arisen…
By the way, footage of how one of Nikol Pashinyan’s bodyguards hit a school-aged boy in the church, who was taken into custody, recently appeared on the Internet.
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“There has never been such a degenerate and immoral situation. Nikol Pashinyan is afraid
April 1, 2026
18-year-old Davit Minasyan, who was arrested on March 29 after the provocation with the participation of Nikol Pashinyan in Saint Anna Church in Yerevan, was detained for 2 months today. Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan decided to satisfy the investigator’s request to detain the 18-year-old student for 2 months. The lawyers do not know on what basis the judge made such a decision, because they have not yet received the court’s decision. 18-year-old Davit, who studies in the 12th grade, was transferred to “Armavir” prison, but before entering the penitentiary, Davit lost consciousness and was transferred to the hospital.
Founder of “Njar” constitutional movement, human rights activist Nina Karapetyantsi by definition, unfortunately, there has been no justice system in Armenia at all times, but he assures that there has never been such a depraved and immoral situation.
“For more than a year, he has been provoking situations, playing with people’s religious feelings, humiliating, if you want, killing people and not giving an answer. Then he is surprised when he finds himself in an environment where he is not expected, and an 18-year-old boy has an outburst, expresses his attitude, after which a whole system attacks one 18-year-old boy – this is beyond all moral norms. Let them not tell me that there was an incident that should be given a legal assessment.” 168.amNina Karapetyants said in a conversation with
According to our interlocutor, before making a legal assessment of David’s actions, all those who spread such rumors should first of all demand a legal and political assessment from the justice system, against the person who was the God of hatred and anti-Armenian propaganda, and who carried out manipulations and propaganda on a cosmic scale.
“If they have not condemned the actions of this man for several years, then they have absolutely no right to speak about the morality or legality of David’s actions.
Nikol Pashinyan is afraid of 18-year-olds, according to his ideas, it is these 18-year-olds and a little older people who will come and reject him.
Honestly, I expect a response from young people today, not in the form of violence, but in the form of participating in the elections and rejecting Nikol. This will be the best answer to give him. Nikol Pashinyan will constantly provoke situations, and I must ask, very much, the young people not to give in to provocations, this is very important. They should have a clear idea that Nikol Pashinyan will go after all young people in different ways, he will sacrifice some of them, and then he will declare them as “senseless victims”, Nina Karapetyants stressed.
According to him, Nikol Pashinyan will fill the prisons with some of the young people and declare that they are guilty.
“Nikol Pashinyan, with his security guards, will subject you to violence and say, ‘You are to blame’. There should be only one answer to this: Nikol Pashinyan should be rejected. The hearts that he sends are not addressed to you dear young people, but to those who should have appreciated his work, directed against you.
This is one of the shameful pages of our justice system, Nikol Pashinyan sees a direct threat from the youth, I hope that the youth will express their attitude very concretely and objectively,” emphasized Nina Karapetyants.
Let’s remind that on March 29, when there was a service in Saint Anna Church, Nikol Pashinyan decided to enter the church with his teammates and security guards, and his security guards tried to open the way by pushing the gathered people. At that time, David and his brother Michael were participating in the liturgy in the church and were urged not to push each other. At that time, a stampede started, one of Nikol Pashinyan’s security guards punched David. After the incident, 2 brothers were arrested, at the moment Mikael is free as a suspect, he was released in exchange for a bail of 5 million drams and a signature not to be absent.
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“We are also dealing with a lack of masculinity. if you speak, then
April 1, 2026
Yesterday, the Government officially announced that today, April 1, Nikol Pashinyan will leave for the Russian Federation on a working visit.
During his visit to Moscow, will Nikol Pashinyan also discuss with the Russian President the issue of “hybrid war against Armenia from the north”, which various representatives of the government have announced on different occasions. Will this issue be on the agenda of both parties?
YSU international relations and diplomacy chair associate professor, international scholar Grigor Balasanyan naturally, the issue of “hybrid war” will be on the discussion agenda.
“Nikol Pashinyan will not ask the president of the Russian Federation why they are waging a hybrid war against Armenia, but will say: what technologies do you have to fight against a hybrid war?”
If you remember, just a few days ago, the RA Foreign Minister said that they should also try to find out from Russia what kind of tools they have to fight against the hybrid war. It’s just not known here who is fighting whom, and it’s not known what they mean by ‘hybrid war’.” 168.amGrigor Balasanyan said in a conversation with
According to him, since the leader of Armenia says one thing, but does another thing, then interprets everything differently, therefore it is difficult to say what answer will be given to those questions.
“I have no doubt that the question will be asked by Nikol Pashinyan: how to fight against the “hybrid war”, Grigor Balasanyan added.
Our interlocutor emphasized that Nikol Pashinyan and his teammates in Armenia do not clarify anything by talking about “hybrid war”, because they leave room for maneuver.
“It is clear to everyone that if it takes money from the EU to fight against the “hybrid war”, then who is the EU’s geopolitical rival in the region? Iran, no, the United States, no? here we are also dealing with a lack of masculinity. If you speak, then call things by their proper names, and if you are not sure that you can give an answer, perhaps you should not destroy the “beehive” and put this issue on the agenda,” said G. Balasanyan.
According to him, the issue of the railway will also be on the agenda, because the Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation said a few days ago that the Russian Federation has no mood and desire to give the concession to anyone.
“Here the question arises, what made the RA leader assume that the Russians agree to cede all that, even to their ally, but in any case, geopolitically and in a certain sense, rival Kazakhstan? Where did Pashinyan get the information that they are ready to cede it to the Kazakhs? As they say, quite a full agenda is expected in Moscow,” emphasized Grigor Balasanyan.
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It would be desirable if pro-Russian politicians could participate in elections
April 1, 2026
Russia would like all pro-Russian forces to be able to participate in the Armenian parliamentary elections. This was stated by Vladimir Putin during the meeting with Nikol Pashinyan.
Earlier we informed that the meeting between Pashinyan and Putin started in the Kremlin.
“We always conduct a sincere dialogue with you, and we would like all political forces and politicians to be able to participate in the internal political processes. Some of them are in prison despite having Russian passports. It is your decision, we do not interfere, but in any case, we would like them all to be able to participate in the internal political processes,” Putin said.
He added that regardless of the outcome of the elections in Armenia, Russia is committed to strengthening friendly relations with Armenia.
To remind, Nikol Pashinyan left for Moscow today. The leaders of Armenia and Russia last met in December 2025 in St. Petersburg, within the framework of the informal summit of the Eurasian Economic Council and the CIS.
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What role did Anna Hakobyan play in the 44-day war?
April 1, 2026
Head of the security team of the “Strong Armenia” party, colonel-investigator Arthur Avanesyan (Kandaz) on March 31 reminded Taken during Anna Hakobyan’s visit to Tavush on April 1, 2023 the statement that 11,000 deserters was during the 44-day war.
“The reality is that we had 11,000 defectors during the 44-day war, I’m not expressing myself differently, you understand what I’m talking about. 11 thousand soldiers, volunteers, officers, etc., you can imagine, right, what a number that is.” Hakobyan insisted.
Apart from the fact that Artur Avanesyan reminded about this statement of Anna Hakobyan, he also emphasized. “Our soldiers are not deserters, they fought like lions, and your husband left our soldier defenseless, without a weapon.”
Anna Hakobyan decided not to let the detective’s video reminder go unanswered.
“I cannot remember this person during the 44-day war. It would definitely have caught my eye, and of course it would have impressed me, I would hardly forget it. And the degree of his awareness about the war and the degree of awareness about the sensational news of just one month old in Inner Armenia are directly comparable. Obviously, he has no idea (news) from both of them.” he wrote on his Facebook page.
I wonder what upset Anna Hakobyan the most here: the reminder of her statement and the opposition to it, keeping the honor of a regular army soldier, or at least the accusation publicly addressed to her ex-husband? In any case, this response raised new questions and confirmed the validity of the existing ones.
For example, why did Kandaz have to be in Anna Hakobyan’s eyes, where was it possible to see her and not see her, is it possible to see all the participants of the war, the command, and then, did Anna Hakobyan hold the position of a military leader, did being the wife of the head of the country at that time allow her to be in the command post, to have access to information and actions containing elements of secrecy? Anna Hakobyan has a serious responsibility in the context of being at the command post during the war, especially when and how 168.amto had reported RA Ministry of Defense:“According to the governing documents, permanent or temporary permits are issued for access to relevant officials performing operational duties at command points.”
Does Hakobyan’s status at that time apply to this requirement defined by the governing documents, did Anna Hakobyan have the right to be in the bunker and remotely observe the hot combat operations taking place at that time, as she once told Former Minister of Defense of Artsakh, former Secretary of the Council of Artsakh Samvel Babayan.
Here another question also arises: who gave such permission outside the law: the head of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, the commander of the Armed Forces, the then president of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, or…
Let’s not forget that during the days of the 44-day war, Anna Hakobyan is also an important discussion had In the room of Araik Harutyunyan, the former president of Artsakh who was sentenced to life in Baku.
Moreover, it was in the days when Baku first began to accuse Armenia and the RA armed forces of targeting the civilian population of Ganja, why not, also when the well-known counter-strike operation was being developed or confirmed, for the failure of which Jalal Harutyunyan was first accused and then acquitted. Of course, there are other issues related to Anna Hakobyan and her participation in the context of the 44-day war, which we have touched on more than once, the last time on February 27 of this year, “Open and kept secret facts. Anna Hakobyan’s responsibility related to the 44-day war cannot be canceled or negotiated in the article, so we won’t go into too much detail in this case.
By the way, we even wrote on one occasion why Anna Hakobyan was not called to the Investigative Commission, or why she was not questioned in specific cases.
If the government circles or Anna Hakobyan had doubts about the 44-day context of the same Artur Avanesyan, Kandaz, and did not believe what was published in the press. data, why didn’t they talk about it earlier and only remembered now? It would be good if the same was done for the KP or pro-KP volunteers, who have many questions about what was done and what was not done in the 44-day war. there are questions and nothing that Artsrun Hovhannisyan invited them to briefings during the war.
And we have raised the issues related to the 44-day holiday that concern us in these years, not according to political convenience and preference, and we have always tried to get information or clarification from the relevant bodies. Another question is the extent to which they do or do not hide the information they have.
For example, from the Ministry of Defense reported where was Ashot Pashinyan during the 44-day war, but when and for how long, they avoided answering, do you agree that this is a key episode, or when did his squad retreat from the Alpasha hill, etc.?
By the way, we have not been able to find out why during the 44-day war 4 high-ranking officials of the NSS get rid of from work, including the director of the National Security Service, the head of military intelligence, the reason is unknown.
In particular, on October 7, 2020, as the official sources reported, he was removed from his post were Levon Shahumyan, head of military counter-intelligence of the NSS. “Armenian time” that presented in the context of espionage detection operations, is the reason here? And a day later?in 2020 on October 8 From the position of the director of the NSS was released Argishti Kyaramyan, who on October 5 had participated to the development of the mentioned operation or its discussion, does Anna Hakobyan know why? Despite this, Kyaramyan remained in Artsakh until the end after his dismissal, and later headed the RA Investigative Committee.
As for desertions during the 2020 war, of course there have been such cases, but the question is how many, from the regular army, or from casual war field reservists and volunteers, and what prompted it?
Anna Hakobyan seems to question the fact that the soldier is not a deserter, the degree of awareness of others on such delicate issues, we do not doubt that she possesses a serious information base.
Moreover, it is possible that neither the 44-day investigation commission nor the law enforcement agencies have much of the information that Nikol Pashinyan has in his hands, why?
Doesn’t possessing such a volume of information base and not fully transferring it to the relevant authorities imply specific responsibility?
And we have sent written requests to the RA Investigative Committee, the RA General Prosecutor’s Office and the RA Ministry of Defense in order to obtain new data related to the desertion. We will publish the answers as soon as we receive them. Maybe Anna Hakobyan is right: what we have is old, it needs updating, even though it is a year old.
In particular, RA Investigative Committee June 9, 2025in response to our inquiry, he informed that during the 44-day military operations of 2020, in the cases of crimes against military service in the divisions of the Main Military Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee About 1,500 criminal proceedings have been initiated against 11,000 or more servicemen. with which a preliminary investigation was carried out and the course of many criminal proceedings was resolved in accordance with the law.
In turn, at the same time RA General Prosecutor’s Office also announced the following.
“In response to the request of June 9, 2025, we inform you that in the service area of the RA Military Prosecutor’s Office During the 2020 44-day war and declared martial law (from September 27, 2020 to March 24, 2021) in accordance with Part 7 of Article 361 (voluntarily leaving a military unit or place of service), Part 3 of Article 362 (desertion) and Part 3 of Article 364 (refusal to perform military service duties) of the RA Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003, as well as As of May 1, 2025, an investigation is being carried out in the pre-trial proceedings with criminal proceedings initiated by a combination of articles Regarding 8240 persons. Committed crimes provided for in the mentioned articles 352 guilty verdicts were passed on the persons.
Due to the course of pre-trial and judicial investigations, the said digital data are constantly changing.”
In June 2025, we tried to find out from Suren Papikyan through a written inquiry whether the number of 11,000 deserters corresponds to reality, how many of the alleged deserters are from the regular army, and how many are not, to which the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia answered.
«The question raised by you is beyond the scope of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia.”
And? 168.amin 2025 «Is Anna Hakobyan’s number about 11,000 desertions during the 44-day war a lie or a leak? with the text article: published, where we asked whether the number of 11,000 defectors mentioned by Anna Hakobyan might be a leak, and if so, by whose hand was it taken out of the walls of the Investigative Commission, although Andranik Kocharyan later did not deny the authenticity of that number. But here is a question, we repeat: were there deserters from the regular army, and what number are we talking about?
And it is precisely to find out the answer to these and other questions that we believe that the report of the 44-day investigative commission should be published, in this case it will become clear what reasons the military leadership mentioned during their interrogations for the defeat in the war, how relaxed they were in this matter, where is their responsibility and where is the political leadership?
In the end, one should also know how much the lack of modern weapons contributed to the defeat of the war, how much the quality and wrong use of the existing weapons, how much the command decisions led to the defeat, how much the Pashinyan management system itself, also the above-mentioned statutory violations, i.e., the organized disorganization or “complicated” state, how much the legislative loopholes played a role in the defeat, and finally how much the fact that only against us Azerbaijan did not fight.
By the way, it is interesting that the former military leadership should be demanding in answering and publicizing these questions, especially when all the responsibility is placed on the army, if, of course, the 44-day report covers them comprehensively. But we won’t know this if the report is kept under wraps.
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RPA decided not to directly participate in the elections
April 1, 2026
The Republican Party of Armenia issued a statement, informing in particular: “The meeting of the Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia took place today, during which the 2026 election was discussed. the question of the party’s participation in the parliamentary elections to be held on June 7.
As a result of a comprehensive analysis, a decision was made about the immediate non-participation of the Republican Party in those elections.
The reasons for the decision and the next steps of the party will be presented at the 18th congress of the RPA to be held on April 4.
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