Political scientist Vladimir Martirosyan writes on his Facebook page.

“Maybe we should talk seriously.

“The kidnapping of politics. How does Armenia pay the price of the reproduction of power”

The elections are over, the account closing period has begun. The reproduction of power in politics never ends with elections. It ends only when the full political price of victory is paid.

That price is always paid in three directions.

1. To the people.
2. The political system.
3. External power centers.

The main question of Armenia’s post-election reality today is not who will be arrested tomorrow. The main question is: who receives the political dividend paid for the reproduction of power?

In order to understand the answer to this question, it is necessary to simultaneously look at two seemingly unrelated processes. One inside, the other outside. In fact, they are two sides of the same political mechanism.

“The Hijacking of Politics”

Open the news of any day and you will see that the main topic is no longer politics. It has become a never-ending stream of arrests, criminal cases, detentions, court hearings, immunity issues, bails, investigatory decisions and judicial comments.

Pay attention to the most important change. The main actors are no longer politicians. They are lawyers, prosecutors, investigators, judges. Political debate has been replaced by litigious language, political programs by accusations, political competition by criminal cases. This is not a news accident. This is a serious political technology. The government controls and manages the protest, because it has designated its place and field. And whoever chooses the field of struggle, sooner or later begins to dictate the logic and rules of the struggle.

If the government succeeds in moving the political struggle from the square to the court, it changes not only the geography of the struggle, but also the physics of politics. If before the opposition itself decided the political time, now that time is decided by the investigator, the prosecutor and the judge.

As a result, political time is replaced by trial time, the street by a court yard, political thought by waiting for a judge’s decision, and political initiative by an endless defensive reaction.

The greatest defeat of politics is not prison. The biggest defeat of politics is the moment when the political force begins to live according to the schedule made by the government. When your political activity is determined by the investigator’s notice, your rally by the time of the court session, your news by the detention request, and your agenda by another criminal case initiated by the government.

At that moment, you are no longer creating a political agenda. You consume the agenda created by someone else.

This is the biggest strategic advantage of the government. Not that the opposition is protesting, but that the opposition no longer independently decides when, against what and in what form it should protest. Each criminal case creates a separate center of attention, each court hearing a separate emotional channel, each social dissatisfaction remains a separate island, and the fragmented dissatisfaction never turns into a unified political pressure.

While everyone is looking at the courts, a second, much deeper process is developing.

States do not live on news, but on obligations. During the election campaign, the public was mainly presented with a toxic internal political agenda. This was done in order to overshadow another question: “What foreign political obligations has Armenia undertaken on the way to the reproduction of power?” That question was not raised because that was the price of victory. And now the stage of paying that price has begun.

Azerbaijan continues to advance its priorities, including the issue of constitutional changes in the Republic of Armenia.

Russia is waiting for Armenia to finally clarify its strategic choice regarding security and integration directions and to hold a referendum in Armenia.

The European Union expects Armenia to remain on a strictly anti-Russian line in its foreign political cooperation, and thereby keeps the deepening and continuity of the entire cooperation in limbo.

The United States is interested in the strengthening of a new strategic arrangement in the South Caucasus and expects from Armenia that the US interests will be taken into account, especially in the direction of Iran.

Different interests, different goals, but one common logic. Everyone is waiting for Armenia to take the steps that, in their opinion, correspond to their strategic interests. However, the most dangerous change here is not even that.

The dangerous thing is that today the external actors are already publicly expressing themselves regarding the constitutional, integration and internal political processes of Armenia. This in itself is not a new phenomenon. The new thing is that such statements are often perceived not as an exception, but as a natural component of the political process. From a political science point of view, this is a dangerous borderline.

When external actors make sure that their expectations are not only heard, but gradually become part of the internal political agenda, a new relationship is formed. In this relationship, the external influence begins to spread not only on the foreign policy, but also on the internal institutional level of the state. There is no vacuum of influence in international relations. If the state weakens the boundaries of its political independence, those boundaries are quickly filled with external expectations. And from the moment when external expectations become one of the determining factors of the internal agenda, sovereignty begins to recede. It happens not with one signature, not with one big contract, but with the accumulation of many “small”, “technical”, “temporary” and “inevitable” concessions.
This is exactly how states lose political subjectivity, with “accumulations”. What is now slowly unfolding as a coercion to RA is the result of that accumulation, and that accumulation, in turn, is the result of the power preservation policy.

“Two processes. One strategy.”

At first glance, it seems that the domestic criminal agenda and foreign political developments are unrelated. In fact, they are interrelated processes.

• Inside, politics is replaced by lawsuits.
• Outside, the state agenda constantly clashes with foreign expectations.
• Inside, political behavior is controlled.
• Outside, the state strategic direction.

This is the double payment of the political price of reproduction of power. One is internal, the other is external.

And as long as society is focused on internal noise, external strategic decisions are far more easily out of public political control.

And where is Armenia?

If Azerbaijan is waiting for its part…

If Russia is waiting for its share…

If Europe is waiting for its share…

If the US is waiting for its share of…

Then where is the section of Armenia? Where is the increase in security? Where is the economic development? Where is the strengthening of state institutions? Where is the deepening of sovereignty?

If there is no clear, public and measurable answer to these questions, then the most dangerous political situation arises. When everyone expects something from you, and you don’t know what you will get in return, you gradually stop being a full subject of the negotiation.

Ելքը․

The legal battle must continue. However, politics cannot be limited to courts. The court decides the legal fate of a person. Politics determines the fate of the state.

The main problem of the opposition is not to abandon the courts.

The main task is to return one’s own political initiative: one’s own agenda, one’s own time, one’s own topics, one’s own rules of the game, one’s own places of protest, one’s own political thought.

The highest level of political struggle is not to respond to every move of the opponent. The highest level of politics is to force the enemy to respond to your initiatives. History has repeatedly shown that systems do not lose where they have chosen the battlefield. They lose when they lose control over the political behavior of society.

Հ․Գ․ States are not destroyed only by wars. They are also destroyed when the society is so busy with the current noise that it does not notice when the strategic direction of the state changes on its behalf.

Therefore, the main political question of Armenia today is not who will be arrested tomorrow. The main question is this: “Who writes Armenia’s political agenda today?”

If that agenda is written in the courts, and the country’s strategic decisions are formed under the constant pressure of external expectations, then we are already dealing not only with the post-election political crisis, but also with the crisis of state management. And history never remembers such crises as another political scandal. It remembers them as turning points in the fate of states.

Հ․Գ․ Stay strong! I will come again.)”

—

Early in the morning, law enforcement officers searched the house of Narek Karapetyan, a member of the “Strong Armenia” party, within the framework of the initiated criminal proceedings.

Later, Narek Karapetyan mentioned in a conversation with journalists that they did not take anything in particular.

“People engaged in political activities are actually forbidden to engage in politics. The reason for everything is to do politics, there is no other reason. It means that a person should not engage in politics except for his appointed satellites. It cannot be like that, we have to engage in politics in our country, because he is leading in the wrong way,” he stressed.

In this context, Narek Karapetyan brought Nikol Pashinyan’s steps that led to the aggravation of relations with the Russian Federation.

“Do you remember his words yesterday: we have a demand of several billions? He is aggravating, the same way he was talking to the president of Azerbaijan at that time, what happened, what we got, what we ate. Yesterday, he also aggravated relations with another country, 30-40 times bigger than Azerbaijan, even with a country bigger than this one. Let’s take the statement in relation to railways, other things. He aggravates the relations with the countries, as he did with Azerbaijan, which led to the war.

The relations with Azerbaijan were strained, but it gives us an opportunity, we have not digested that enemy yet, why is it creating a new enemy for us? Let him agree, can’t he? Let him go negotiate with Russia, find a way, a process, a solution to the situation, not lead to a dead end. Not by complaining, we are an independent country and we should be able to be correct in setting a distance, but not in such a way as to aggravate relations.

Now those who applaud this escalation, the same people applauded the escalation with Azerbaijan before the 2020 war,” he said.

It should be noted that during a briefing with journalists after the government session, Nikol Pashinyan stated that the RA government is ready to discuss the issues related to the “South Caucasian Railway” in the international arbitration court as well.

“Our position remains the same. it is our property, and the Republic of Armenia should have the opportunity to use it as it sees fit.

There is no alternative to this, this issue must be resolved. We want it to be resolved amicably, but a de jure question may arise that if there is a disagreement, it can be discussed in the arbitration court,” Pashinyan stressed.

During the briefing, he also referred to “Araratcement” factory, noting: “I watch the news, they show the shots from above. Is it a 21st century factory? It’s loot, an object of loot. At least you can put two pennies for the entrance area, tidy it up a bit.”

Here, Narek Karapetyan advised Pashinyan to pay attention to the gates of the “Haykakan Zamanka” editorial office.

And Nikol Pashinyan did not ignore the theme of charity during his yesterday’s briefing, noting that “oligarchic charity does not bring anything good”, and asserting that too much money was spent, for example, on military units.

“In approximately 6 months, we fired 40-50 people for this, 30 people were investigated. And more money was returned due to these additions during our examination than they did,” Karapetyan said in a conversation with journalists.

Details in the video

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The Catholicos of All Armenians is our Eminence, Narek Karapetyan, a member of the “Strong Armenia” party, told reporters.

He emphasized that no politician has the right to interfere in the affairs of the church.

Karapetyan said that if possible, they will meet His Holiness before the start of the National Assembly session.

—

The future Speaker of the National Assembly, Ruben Rubinyan, has signed another order on awarding Davit Arakelyan, the head of the staff of the National Assembly.

“Guided by Article 5, Part 2, Clause 22 of the Constitutional Law “Regulations of the National Assembly” and based on the Annex 1 of the Decision of the Council of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia of December 27, 2017 “On approving the procedure for awarding the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the National Assembly with awards and the description of the awards” NDAKHO-045-L, I order:

For his significant contribution, merit and outstanding services rendered in the field of state activity, Davit Arakelyan, head of the staff of the National Assembly, was awarded with the Medal of Honor of the National Assembly of the RA National Assembly,” said the letter signed by Ruben Rubinyan. in order, which was published on the NA website.

It should be noted that former National Assembly President Alek Simonyan’s teammates, his spokesperson, assistants, advisors, have written applications for release one by one.

A few days ago, the media also wrote that Davit Arakelyan, who is also considered to be Alen Simonyan’s teammate, will also leave the post.

It turns out that Ruben Rubinyan made a “unique” gesture by rewarding Davit Arakelyan before leaving his post.

Let’s remind that in February 2023, by the order of Alen Simonyan, Davit Arakelyan was released from the position of assistant to the NA Speaker and was appointed the head-general secretary of the NA staff.

By the way, Ruben Rubinyan has not yet assumed the position of NA Speaker, the other day order signed on defining and approving security rules in the National Assembly, including the implementation of journalists’ work in a designated special area.

—

On June 26, it became known that Russia stopped the supply of fish products from Armenia, thus expanding the restrictions it applies on Armenian products to the Russian market. Almost 10 days after this decision, during the Government session, the Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan announced that he received an official permission from the European Commission regarding the export of fish and fish products of Armenian production.

Meanwhile, both before and after this announcement, Armenian fish farmers carried out protests, declaring that they do not have a market to sell their products, very little is sold in the domestic market. As a result of all that, they accumulated many debts and loans. The fish farmers also held a protest in front of the Government building, demanding a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, but no one accepted them.

At the beginning of the week, Armen Karapetyan, a member of the Fish Breeders’ Union, told us that they are waiting for the next session of the Government to understand what decision the Government will make regarding them.

Today of 168.am in a conversation with Fish breeders union president Scream Grigoryan said that a plan to support fish farmers was discussed at the last session of the Government. True, it does not completely solve their problem, but to some extent it will soften the situation.

“Yesterday, a support program was discussed at the Government session. We knew that they had to discuss a plan, but we didn’t know what plan, that’s why we were waiting. Of course, we thank you, but that program does not provide a radical solution to our problem. The radical solution of the problem is the sale of the existing product, which must be sold, the solution ways are being sought in different ways today,” said Gor Grigoryan.

To the question: Does the government’s support program satisfy the fish producers, our interlocutor answered that if it does not satisfy, what can they do?

“And if the government didn’t do that, now we have to cooperate in order to implement longer-term projects.

Exporting fish to the EU market is not a plan, but a concrete action, but now we are talking about a support program, that is, long-term subsidized loans, credit holidays, etc.

At the moment, Armenian fish cannot be sold on the EU market,” Gor Grigoryan emphasized.

—

The RA government will make a decision the other day accept on establishing a temporary ban on the import of tomato paste. The relevant decision was approved at the July 30 meeting of the government. It is assumed that the restriction will be in effect for half a year.

The ban extends not only to the import of tomato paste from third countries, but also to its transportation from member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and transit through the territory of other EAEU countries. The government noted that the measure was adopted in order to ensure equal competitive conditions for companies engaged in the import of tomato paste and local producers of products from Armenian raw materials, as well as to regulate the process of buying tomatoes from local producers.

It is noted that the restrictions “imposed by a number of countries” on the export and transit of quarantined products of Armenian origin led to a reduction in the volume of supplies of fruits and vegetables, including greenhouse tomatoes. As a result, a significant proportion of greenhouse tomatoes previously destined for export is now sold domestically, which in turn has led to a decrease in demand for tomatoes grown in the open field.

Problems related to the supply of Armenian products to Russia began at the end of May. “Rosselkhoznadzor” has introduced (and continues to do so) step by step restrictions on the import of various categories of goods, explaining this by violations of veterinary and phytosanitary requirements.

Successively, flowers, vegetables, fruits, and fish products came under the ban (about 15 thousand tons of live fish accumulated in Armenian fish farms, which cannot be exported to Russia. Producers have already started selling it in the domestic market at almost the cost price, 1,700-1,800 drams per kilogram. announced Gor Grigoryan, President of the Union of Fish Breeders of Armenia.

He admits that it is impossible to quickly reorient exports to Europe.

“Closing the 30-year-old market and immediately entering a new market with the same volumes is an impossible task. And the problem is not only in fish, it applies to any product.” In addition to the EU, the markets of the USA and the Persian Gulf monarchies are being considered, but the solution to the problem will take time.

Currently, the Ministry of Economy is negotiating with potential foreign partners, but it is unrealistic to hope that new markets will be able to quickly accept the full volume of Armenian products), and then almost all quarantined products of Armenian origin.  Since July 27, Russia has also completely closed the Armenian dairy market.

Let’s remind that on July 27, without leaving the regular vacation, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called Russian President Vladimir Putin.

By: “Armenpress”– the interlocutors exchanged ideas on the agenda of Armenia-Russia relations, in particular, the problems arising in bilateral economic relations… Pashinyan emphasized that the restrictions on the export of goods of Armenian origin to the Russian market contradict the legal basis of the Armenia-Russia contract and the regulations of the Eurasian Economic Union, and asked to take measures to resolve these problems.

As for holding a referendum in the Republic of Armenia on the issue of Armenia’s membership in the European Union, as mentioned in In the joint statement of the leaders of the four EAEU member states adopted on May 29, Pashinyan emphasized that “practically, this is possible only after Yerevan sends an official application to the European Union for EU membership, and when the subject becomes substantive.” At the same time, the Prime Minister reaffirmed “the readiness of the Government of the Republic of Armenia to solve the mentioned issues through an open, partnership and friendly dialogue”.

It is obvious that Pashinyan was forced to make an emergency call to the Kremlin by the mass protests of farmers who are suffering significant losses from Russian restrictions, which have already been extended to fish products, dairy products, etc. More than 90% of Armenia’s agricultural and food industry exports go to the Russian market, while the country’s authorities announce the search for alternative sources of supply.:

Thus, the European Commission recently allocated 52 million euros to support the private sector in Yerevan, and Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU market will be open to 99 percent of fresh agricultural products from Armenia and 90 percent of non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic products. At the same time, even Pashinyan admits that he will not be able to take advantage of these opportunities quickly, because the current import procedures of the European Union for Armenia will hardly change with their statutory time.

The Armenian Embassy published a list of five grocery stores where you can buy fruit in Paris and some cities in the central region of Ile-de-France, but it is, to say the least, extremely insufficient and cannot be considered anything other than a not-so-skillful PR stunt.

It is no less important that the European Privileges for Armenian products also extend to 40 countries associated with the EU (according to the terms of association with the EU), for example, the Agro- and textile products of West Africa or the Maghreb, which have been associated with the EU for a long time, benefit from the privileges in the EU (and in most foreign territories, the Netherlands, France and Danish Greenland).

In Yerevan, they never get tired of announcing that they intend to continue working within the framework of the EAEU, while simultaneously developing relations with the European Union. At the same time, according to the results of the phone conversation between the leaders of Armenia and Russia, the Kremlin’s laconic message is noted, that “Vladimir Putin confirmed his loyalty to the joint statement of the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia adopted at the EAEU summit in Astana on May 29, 2026, regarding the actions of the Republic of Armenia aimed at joining the European Union.

In particular, it was emphasized the need to hold a nationwide referendum on Armenia’s accession to the EU in the shortest possible time frame or to be part of the EAEU in the future.”

In Moscow, it was invariably stated that the combination of participation in the two associations is impossible, considering that Armenia should decide the future foreign policy course by approving it through a referendum. At the same time, the other EAEU participants՝ including its associated Uzbekistan and Cuba, do not impose restrictions on trade with Armenia; it is another matter that its indicators fluctuate around zero.

We think it should not be a coincidence that Pashinyan, with his characteristic populist spirit, declares (perhaps not without prompting from outside) that the situation related to export restrictions within the EAEU is the problem of that association, which is allegedly paralyzed and does not perform its functions. Armenia has the legal right to form alternative directions of development for itself and intends to consistently move along that path, and the era when the country had no alternatives, according to Pashinyan, is over.

“If this issue is not resolved quickly, let me predict that this will be the beginning of the end of EAEU.” And on July 30, the head of the government introduced another prepared thesis, not excluding court investigations and an appeal to arbitration, on issues related to the South Caucasian Railway (a subsidiary of Russian Railways, “RZD”). Yerevan considers the transport network as its property and intends to manage it independently.

“For example, things may appear for which we have not asked for anything for 30 years, and now we will ask for 2 billion dollars a year for rent,” said Pashinyan, adding that he still hopes to reach an agreement with Moscow in a friendly way.

Bringing the SCR issue to international arbitration is fraught with serious economic consequences for Armenia and deterioration of the investment environment. thinks energy security expert Vahe Davtyan.

The concession agreement allows a unilateral solution, but in that case, Armenia will once again be at the center of another international economic scandal. That has already happened «Power grids» in the story that arrived is Stockholm Arbitration. In addition, Yerevan may have to pay compensation of about 270-280 million dollars to the Russian side.

by the way there is an assumption, that in reality Pashinyan did not allude to SCR, but to the Russian military base in Gyumri.

Alexey Baliev

vpoanalytics.com

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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In January 2023 CivilNetin the context of the fire at the Azat shelter and the death of 15 soldiers, member of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security of the National Assembly, MP Vilen Gabrielyan stated in an interview with

“If I were in the opposition, I would demand the resignation of the Minister of Defense. But I am not an oppositionist, I am Suren Papikyan’s teammate. therefore, I support him in solving the problems in the army.”

In this interview he gave 3 years ago, he stated that the RA armed forces need a serious transformation, because the system does not work in line with the existing challenges.

“When you come to a system and you don’t make drastic changes there, apparently, over time, the risk is very high that you will become part of that system. And in RA, the systems were created based on wrong principles and content. It’s not enough that we created it on the wrong principle and content, later the very purpose of the system was undermined due to the criminal-oligarchic regime.” Gabrielyan continued, remembering the former.

But at that time, Vilen Gabrielyan, a member of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs, and today a candidate for the chairman of the same committee, also hinted that it is not clear to him what kind of army Suren Papikyan wants to get, so to speak.

“It is not clear to me personally during these 2 years, especially since Papikyan became the Minister of Defense. We have had discussions several times, for me it is a problem that when we say professional army, but what does that imply, secondly, what steps do we take to achieve that professional army?

The modular housing they talk about is good, but it’s a piecemeal change. The Minister of Defense came to the commission, and we told him there that the model of the army we want to have is not clear for us, and that it is not clear what steps we want to take to achieve a professional army. It is not clear to the entire committee.

According to my information, during this period the Ministry of Defense had a vision that the Minister did not approve. I see that there are problems and contradictions within the system, and apparently the contradictions are holding us back and preventing us from moving forward. A year ago, the minister announced that we should have that concept, but until now, there is none.” he continued.

Let us remind that in 2022 During the NA-Government question-and-answer session in February, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan announced that the road map for the implementation of reforms in the Defense Department was approved in 2021, in the logic of which a new concept related to defense was developed, ready for circulation, but it was not completely acceptable to him in terms of content.

“You need clarity, concise content. The work is quite good, but I, as the head of the department, am not satisfied with the work and sent it back for re-editing. The results of the work will be summarized in the near future, it is not confidential, it is possible to participate in discussions, our department is openPapikyan said.

Maybe today everything is simpler for Vilen Gabrielyan, he already has an army concept, weapons are being bought from different countries, they are trying to “adapt” the army to a western model, the “monopoly” of being the primary security factor has been “taken” from the armed forces, the term “combat army” is no longer relevant, now the acceptable wording is “defensive army”.

It is a different question, to what extent it can be considered a professional army today or has really followed its path, but all this is, in fact, a consequence of state policy. In other words, Nikol Pashinyan is the one who decides globally, is having a combat-ready army part of his plans?

Given to the National Radio yesterday in the interview Gabrielyan was talking about the Swiss and Finnish models of the army.

For example, experts consider that Finland is the country with the most powerful and largest artillery arsenal in Western Europe. Does the Republic of Armenia have a problem of having a comparatively powerful army? In general, what is the problem facing the RA armed forces, soldiers, officers, whose territories are being taken step by step?

By the way, Vilen Gabrielyan announced about two years ago.

“I generally consider that maintaining a combat base in the 21st century is one of the signs of backwardness from a military point of view. If you ask me, it is better not to have combat bases, not to keep manpower, but any person who illegally violates the border, as soon as he violates your border by a millimeter, you solve the problem on the spot. The Minister of Defense will soon come with new projects, and we will finally be able to form a territorial defense system, create territorial defense forces that should be based on the potential of local residents as well. It means that the person where he lives must be involved in a certain unit that will ensure the protection of the given area. Our security system and defense capabilities must be enhanced.”

First of all, Pashinyan’s teammate should know very well that the Azerbaijani military is in the territory of the Republic of Armenia and is unlikely to leave, the problem is not so much the combat base as the prohibition to solve the issues of the border violator on the spot. Today there are already formed territorial defense forces.

Naturally, it is necessary to move forward, to switch to the use of the automated system and other modern methods, but the main problem is the political will of the country’s leadership. For example, Vilen Gabrielyan would probably like to continue speaking out about the rights of refugees from Baku, to oppose some of Aliyev’s statements, which he did and which he has been forbidden to do for about 1 year.

However, ironically, it has been decided that Vilen Gabrielyan can be the chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee, whose areas of activity are: protection, national security, police, emergency situations, military-industrial complex, in the armed forces, service in national security, police and other paramilitary bodies and laws regulating these areas.

In other words, Vilen Gabrielyan can lead a commission that has the right to control the structure headed by Suren Papikyan, moreover, any law related to the army passes under the “hands” of this commission.

Time will show how much Vilen Gabrielyan will support his teammate Suren Papikyan in solving the problems in the army.

If Vilen Gabrielyan decides to “verify” the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia on the instructions of Nikol Pashinyan… What is it about?

About two years ago, Vilen Gabrielyan on his Facebook page wrote.

«2021 On Sunday, November 14, at 10:00, an emergency meeting of the “Civil Agreement” party board was held to discuss the situation surrounding the Sotk-Khoznavar events. during which all the positive and negative aspects, in the context of the available official information, had to be discussed.

During the session, taking into account the fact that I served in the 2nd Army Corps, the Prime Minister asked to try to describe the situation as accurately as possible from the first hand with my personal connections. I left the room, after a short while I came back and described the situation where, to our surprise, we discovered the reading of official and unofficial information – obviously soft to say the least.

I would also like to specifically point out that there were/are criminal proceedings related to the above-mentioned Sotk-Khoznavar cases, by which people were detained, including those released from service, with which I had a problem and have, including because of the fact that among the detainees or from the position two of those released were the ones who gave me almost 100% truthful information during the above events. But the problem is not that I was presented with almost accurate information, but that in fact, during the Sotk-Khoznavar events, there were officers with a rare will.”

Here, in fact, Vilen Gabrielyan says that Nikol Pashinyan, one of the experienced officers who provided accurate information about the military situation and showed exceptional will in those days, was dismissed. It should be noted that in the case of the November battles of 2021 passes The former commander of the 2nd Corps, Vahram Grigoryan.

On the other hand, Gabrielyan “discloses” that he received a task from Pashinyan to verify the information of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Defense, because perhaps at that moment Pashinyan did not trust his own Minister of Defense, although he could also get clarifications from the leadership of the Ministry of Defense.

It is also a problem that Vilen Gabrielyan seems to have considered entering into such a “game” as normal, which does not speak of a very good thing, even if he considers that Pashinyan’s most wrong personnel appointments in the army was appointing Arshak Karapetyan and Vagharshak Harutyunyan as Minister of Defense, for which Pashinyan had his reasons, which he talked about.

By the way, even during the days of the 44-day war, Nikol Pashinyan considered the information provided by the former Artsakh president Arayik Harutyunyan more reliable than the information provided by the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, and it does not matter that by his decision, Artsrun Hovhannisyan was appointed as the representative of the RA Ministry of Defense, whose war information was contradicted by reality. Moreover, the briefings were hosted by people whose 44-day combat biography raises many questions, it is possible that there are such people in Gabrielyan’s circle as well. Has he tried to check with his “channels”?

Time will tell what kind of official and unofficial interaction and contacts there will be between the Defense Commission headed by Vilen Gabrielyan and the structure headed by Suren Papikyan, and themselves.

Let us add that “Regulations of the National Assembly” are constitutional of the law according to which the Standing Committee on Defense and Security has the authority to:

■ Parliamentary control over the implementation of laws is carried out,

■ request information on the progress of the Government’s program,

■ in relation to the clarification of issues related to the subject of parliamentary control, the committee may, by its decision, invite competent officials to the committee, who are obliged to appear at the committee session and answer the questions,

■ information containing state, official, commercial or other secrets protected by law are provided to the commission at its request, and the members of the commission can familiarize themselves with such information in accordance with the law. The members of the commission may get acquainted with the materials or documents related to the requested information at the request of the commission also at their location.

■ As a result of parliamentary control, the competent standing committee can adopt a written conclusion and send it to other bodies of the National Assembly, as well as competent bodies and officials, etc.

It should be noted that despite our written requests, we have not been able to find out what is the share of arms acquisitions in the increase of foreign debt of 8 billion dollars.

—

168TVof “Trigger” the guest of the program political scientist Malek Dudakov.

During the program, the position of the USA in the Iranian conflict, the impact of the war on the domestic politics of the USA, the confrontation between the White House and the Congress, as well as the impact of the military crisis on the American economy and the upcoming elections were discussed.

Special attention was paid to the consequences of Lindsey Graham’s death, changes in the alignment of forces within the Republican Party, the future of the non-conservative direction of American politics and the prospects of Washington’s anti-Iranian strategy.

Also in focus are US-Israel relations, Tel Aviv’s influence on White House decisions, growing criticism of Israel among American politicians, and possible changes in the nature of the US-Israeli partnership.

The cost of the conflict with Iran for the United States, the impact of drone technology on modern armed conflicts, the correlation between foreign policy and the economic situation and the election campaign, as well as the crisis of the American political system, the growth of public polarization, the prospects for the end of the era of interventionism and the transition to a possible new world order were analyzed.

The attempts of the USA to include Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan in the anti-Iranian coalition, which were crowned with failure, became a separate topic of discussion.

Hayk Derzyan

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Veronika Zonabend, the wife of Ruben Vardanyan, who is illegally detained in Baku, has again sent official letters to Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and Human Rights Commissioner of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, in order to organize the visit of the humanitarian delegation of international women to Baku.

“Veronica Zonabend’s Repetition.”
July 31, 2026

This week, 100 days have passed since Ruben was transferred to the Umbak penal complex. His detention has been ongoing since September 2023, and during all that time he has never been able to meet his family in person.

Earlier, I sent applications to the Human Rights Commissioner of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, in connection with the preparation of the humanitarian delegation of international women to Baku.

The purpose of this initiative remains exclusively humanitarian: to visit the Armenian prisoners held in Azerbaijan, to deliver them family letters, photographs and permitted personal belongings, as well as to help maintain their contact with their families.

To date, no official responses have been received to the applications sent.

Therefore, on July 30, I again sent official letters to Ms. Sabina Aliyeva and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with specific proposals regarding the practical organization of the humanitarian visit. Today I am also addressing them publicly again.

I am asking Mrs. Aliyeva to support the organization of visiting the Armenian prisoners held in the Umbak penal complex, to define the possible format of the visit, the order of entry and transfer of parcels from families, as well as the conditions of safe entry, stay and unobstructed exit of the participants of the delegation.

We are ready to discuss various formally agreed formats, including the visit of the entire delegation, the visit of a limited group of participants or the implementation of a visit accompanied by a representative of the staff of the Human Rights Commissioner.

It is fundamentally important for us that the chosen format ensures direct humanitarian contact with the prisoners and enables them to transfer the permitted items from their relatives.

I again ask the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia to appoint a person responsible for the coordination of this initiative and provide the necessary diplomatic and practical support for its preparation.

I want to act in open, responsible and official ways.

I hope for an official answer and readiness for practical cooperation.

Veronika Zonabend”, the text of the application reads.

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Narek Karapetyan wrote:

“When they ask me who is my favorite songwriter or singer, it’s definitely Ruben Hakhverdyan.

Ruben is a songwriter, not a politician, and he may be wrong, but…

Dear Ruben, we want to get the Armenia you want, for people like you to be appreciated, not to try to use your name in today’s political demands.

Don’t be meek…”

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