“Past” newspaper writes:

“The start of a new political phase in Armenia is not just the beginning of legislative work, but a new “battlefront” of systematic, tense and uncompromising confrontation, where the parliamentary podium will turn into the main platform of the political struggle for existence. The decision of the opposition “Strong Armenia” and “Armenia” blocs to take the mandates is not a sign of reconciliation or acceptance of the existing rules of the game, but a conscious step to enter an area where a tough and brutal struggle is expected.

The future parliament will obviously not be a classical legislative body. it will become the frontline of political conflicts, legal protection and exposure of government wrongdoing. And although the CP is more in the parliament in terms of sheer numbers, moreover, the entire state system and administrative resources are in their hands, the actual authorities have such anxieties and fears that they are increasingly deepening the “legal” pressures on the oppositionists, and in the future they will try to use all the state resources, including the law enforcement system, to obstruct and paralyze the activities of the opposition political forces. However, it is in these conditions that a new quality of parliamentary resistance will be formed, where every session, discussion or statement will have exceptional political weight and tension.

Despite the internal pressures, the chain of illegalities and the administrative and law-enforcement levers concentrated in the hands of the government, it seems that the opposition forces are not only not retreating, but also getting stronger, which is why the government is getting mixed up. Moreover, there are powerful tools in the hands of the opposition, the competent and effective use of which can radically change the balance of political forces. One of the primary levers is activation on international platforms. If the political repressions and human rights violations taking place in Armenia are presented to the international community with arguments, the opposition can create serious external pressure on the authorities.

On the other hand, one of the key and most effective directions of the struggle will be work on the ground and maintaining direct, permanent contact with the voters. Today, there are already clear and visible examples when after the elections, for example, “Strong Armenia” actively travels around the marzes, meets with citizens and is not limited to political statements, but has started to solve concrete, real problems “on the ground” by providing practical support to the residents. The combination of parliamentary tools, external pressures and such consistent and systematic work carried out on the ground can form a qualitatively new, a parliamentary opposition providing practical and real results, which with its effective work is able to build trust in the broad circles of the public and achieve a change of power in the country.”

—

On July 21, during the preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings initiated in connection with the death of N.T., a soldier of the N military unit of the Ministry of Defense, a public criminal prosecution was initiated against the latter’s co-serviceman, junior sergeant, according to Article 522, Part 2, Clauses 1, 2, and 3 of the Criminal Code, and against the private soldier, according to Article 522, Part 2, Clauses 1 and 3. (causing a military serviceman to commit suicide by carelessness).

This was reported by the press secretary of the Investigative Committee, Kima Avdalyan.

As part of the proceedings, the latter were arrested and a petition was submitted to the court to apply detention as a preventive measure.

—

Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan announced on his Facebook page yesterday that by the decision of the Anti-Corruption Court and the mediation of the General Prosecutor’s Office, “Araratcement” was handed over to the administration of the Republic of Armenia, represented by the Ministry of Economy.

He informed that the manager of the company will be appointed in July, and called on the employees to conscientiously fulfill their duties, warning that otherwise grounds for dismissal, administrative or even criminal liability may arise.

A paradoxical situation has been created. the minister of economy of the country is, in fact, proudly presenting a process that is much more reminiscent of a gulp carried out by the use of repressive mechanisms than an economic policy implemented within the framework of a legal state.

The case of “Araratcement” is not unique.

In the last one year, this is already the second major case, after the HEP, when the state takes actual control over a large private property. This is a dangerous trend that cannot but affect Armenia’s investment reputation.

Such encroachments on property rights are a serious blow to the investment environment. No investor can feel protected in a country where the fate of property can be determined by political developments or the whims of the first person in power. Moreover, such processes will most likely become the subject of international legal disputes in arbitrations and reports of authoritative organizations, causing additional damage to the country’s economic reputation.

It is almost beyond doubt that Gagik Tsarukyan will recover his property rights sooner or later. In that case, the financial consequences of this political adventure of Nikol Pashinyan’s government will become a heavy burden for the state budget. The citizens of Armenia will pay that price, not the authors of these decisions.

The following statement of the minister deserves special attention. “Until then, I urge all the employees of the company to do their work conscientiously and responsibly, so that in the future there are no grounds for dismissal or administrative and criminal liability in accordance with the law.”

It is difficult to consider this wording as an ordinary work admonition. It is more likely that the government is aware of the possible dissatisfaction with its decision also in the “Araratcement” collective and tries to prevent them by creating an atmosphere of warnings, blackmail and pressure.

In a state governed by the rule of law, the government should be the guarantor of property rights, not the instrument of its restriction. Otherwise, not only the fate of one enterprise or one owner, but also Armenia’s economic future, legal predictability and investors’ trust are at risk.

Political scientist Suren Surenyants

—

On July 22, Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan visited a military unit under the Special Army Corps of the Ministry of Defense as part of his working visit to Syunik Marz.

Anahit Manasyan had a meeting with the representatives of the command and officer staff of the special army corps and military units, and discussed a number of issues related to the rights of servicemen.

Anahit Manasyan, accompanied by the commander of the Special Army Corps, Major General Garegin Poghosyan, toured the territory of the military unit, studied the social and living conditions, in particular, the state of the medical service, the availability of medicine, the quality of the food served, questions about discipline and morale, etc.

The defender emphasized once again that the protection of the rights of servicemen and their family members is one of the priority directions of his activity. In this context, the problems recorded during periodic visits to military units and the possible ways to solve them are consistently presented to the competent authorities.

Anahit Manasyan emphasized the need to carry out complex and continuous work in the direction of preventing suicides and self-harms, guaranteeing the right to life, strengthening military discipline, as well as maintaining and improving the morale and psychological state of servicemen.

The defender also emphasized the necessity of continuous improvement of the service and living conditions of servicemen, highlighting the ongoing work in that direction.

Anahit Manasyan appreciates the readiness and consistency of the Ministry of Defense in addressing and solving sectoral problems. Within the framework of visits to military units, positive developments and effective solutions to many problems are regularly recorded in relation to the issues raised by the Human Rights Defender.

HRD informs that the visits of the Human Rights Defender to military units and other military institutions are regular.

—

The systemic crisis facing Armenia and the internal political impasse require urgent solutions and a clear roadmap for internal de-escalation.

1. There is NO political life in Armenia. We should not pretend that we have a political process, or let’s say a political institution, NA, where a political process will take place. When an entire faction is simply banned in front of the whole world, and Tsarukyan, campaigning with the slogan of internal solidarity, is arrested, when the prisons are full of political prisoners, what kind of political process can we talk about?

2. There IS a prison in Armenia, and there ARE serious risks for Armenia.

3. There is NO post-election calm in Armenia.

4. There IS an extremely divided society in Armenia.

5. There is NO feeling of a united ship in Armenia and NO united perception of upcoming risks.

6. There IS widespread uncertainty in Armenia, regardless of electoral affiliation.

7. There is NO rational understanding in Armenia (not even the realization of its necessity) on how to face the most serious problems that depend on us and do not depend on us, which we will all face in the nearest future.

8.     There IS a general stalemate in Armenia: within the country, in the economy, in relations with neighbors, in relations with the West, in relations with Russia.

9. There is an urgent need in Armenia to get the country out of the deadlock.

How?

Step one

De-escalation within the country. Open the doors of prisons. All those illegally imprisoned must return to normal life. Stop repression.

Step two

Stop all those actions that are unnatural and disrupt normal life. For example, to restore the unhindered work of institutions owned by Tsarukyan, to allow ordinary people to return to normal life (there is a long list of other such examples).

Step three

Stop the hate speech, cursing and threats towards each other. This should become the new public norm and apply to all parties.

Step four

Start an inter-constituency dialogue.

Step five

The public and political elites should send correct and balanced messages to the society, they should understand the interest of the country and the real situation.

Step six

We must be ready for Caucasian peace, for that we must be literate and rational. Not being ready for peace in the Caucasus is the biggest risk.

Step seven

Start a process of civilized discussions on the main issues within the country. It will not be easy in today’s conditions, but it is the way to face the dangers and internal healing. (International experience shows that it usually starts with mediation).

Step eight

Everything should be done so that after the next elections (it doesn’t matter if they will be in a year, three, five or a half), the political forces congratulate each other. This should be made a national goal. This will lead to a serious recovery of the society. But to achieve this, the first step must be taken today. stop detentions, open the doors of prisons, so that all those illegally imprisoned return to normal life.

Vahe Hovhannisyan

Alternative projects group

—

On June 19, 2026, the Department of State Interests Protection of the General Prosecutor’s Office submitted a petition to the Ministry of Environment and “Sevan National Park” SNOC to take measures to terminate the contract on granting the right to develop a state-owned plot of land with an area of ​​1,215 square meters, signed on July 3, 2008 between Sevan National Park SNOC and SP Company.

According to the information received from the “Sevan National Park” SNOC, the mentioned area is completely covered with water, and the contract for the right of development has been recorded in the SNOC as terminated. At the same time, according to the information received from the Cadastre Committee, it was found that the state registration of the termination of the contract was not carried out.

On the basis of the petition of the General Prosecutor’s Office, “Sevan National Park” SNOC submitted an application to the Cadastre Committee in order to carry out the state registration of the termination of the right arising from the development right.

According to the information provided by the Cadastre Committee on July 21, 2026, the right arising from the contract for the construction of a plot of land with an area of ​​1215 square meters was terminated by state registration.

—

The term “return of Azerbaijanis” should never be used and the “West Azerbaijan” occupation program should never be equated with the right of return of Artsakh Armenians.

You know that I persistently speak, write and fight against the use of wrong Azerbaijani terms, at the same time I call for a very direct political assessment of the threats coming from Azerbaijan. If the territory of our country is described with a term that has not existed in history for four years, it is declared a “new national goal”, huge money and resources are put on it, it is introduced into the education system, it means that it has become a problem of our national security for a long time, but we have not given it such an assessment yet.

Anyway, during the pre-election stage, I saw several times that the head of the “Wings of Unity” movement, Arman Tatoyan, said that the topic is closed for Azerbaijanis on international law platforms, there is no such right, it is about any “return” to the territory of the Republic of Armenia. This caught my attention. During a recent research, I turned to the former HRD, asking him to tell me on what basis that claim was made. Based on the materials provided to me by Tatoyan, it turned out that today there is no such international instance where Azerbaijanis can raise the issue of their alleged right to “return”. This issue is directly related to time limits, the record and response of which is best reflected by two of the most authoritative international judicial instances.

Thus, in the “Samadov v. Armenia” case of the ECtHR, the court was inadmissible to recognize the claim of the Azerbaijani applicant living in Karvachar against Armenia. The court noted that Armenia joined the ECHR in 2002, while the applicant filed the complaint in 2008, never justifying why he waited more than 15 years from the time of the alleged violation, and six years after Armenia’s accession, and just filed the complaint. The court considered these periods too long from the point of view of applying for legal protection. It is noteworthy that this decision was made by the members of the Chamber in 2021. It is no secret that Azerbaijan raised the issue of protecting the property rights of Azerbaijanis who left Artsakh and Armenia in the 1990s in the same interstate complaint filed against Armenia in 2021. However, with the decision of the ECHR in the “Samadov” case, the fate of those demands of Azerbaijan was predicted. they will be recognized as inadmissible on the basis of late submission.

More important is the judgment of the International Court of Justice dated 12.11.2024, by which the court recorded that it does not have jurisdiction to examine the claims presented by Azerbaijan, which refer to the period between 1993 and 1996, including the claims regarding the alleged deportations of Azerbaijanis.

Thus, it is obvious that in any case, no Azerbaijani can currently raise questions related to ownership or the right of return. Any such attempt will fail, taking into account the positions of two prestigious international courts.

Unlike Azerbaijanis, Artsakh Armenians continue to have the right to present such a claim, which has been established by international courts. I will address this topic in a separate post. And the meaning of this post is that when you are guided by the facts and a professional approach, you understand that all the cards are there to define this topic clearly as an invasion, this has nothing to do with “the right of return of Azerbaijanis”. And the one who compares this invasion plan with the right of return of Artsakh people is directly advocating in favor of Azerbaijan, “normalizing” Azerbaijani aggression.

Azerbaijanologist Tatev Hayrapetyan

—

According to the sources of ArmLur.am, RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan was taken to the hospital yesterday.

“According to the information, the president’s condition worsened, as a result of which he was transferred to the “Nairi” medical center with a pre-infarction condition.

According to our sources, Vahagn Khachaturyan passed the necessary examinations, after which he was discharged from the hospital,” the website wrote.

—

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who returned to power in 2006 as a result of free elections, announced on July 19 that “there will never be another election” in the country. His reasoning was more eloquent. the opposition, it turns out, wants to come to power through elections.

Thus, Ortega unwittingly gave the most honest definition of an authoritarian government, according to which the constitutional right of the people to change the government peacefully is already an attempt to seize power for such a government.

Dictatorship does not begin the day the government announces that there will be no more elections. On that day, the formality just ends. Dictatorship begins much earlier, when elections are still held, but the government already controls the conditions of competition, the administrative resources, the information field, the law enforcement system, and the legal tools to arbitrarily validate the final result.

Nikol Pashinyan also came to power through a public uprising and elections, promising to return the state and power to the people. After eight years, the state and the government were not returned to the people, but were gradually used for the reproduction of the power of one person and one political force. And any real possibility to change that government was presented and is presented as a threat to the state, peace and even the existence of Armenia.

When a citizen can vote, but his vote cannot change the government, the election ceases to be a mechanism of democracy and becomes a ritual of legitimizing the authoritarian government.

Then comes the next stage, the consistent weakening of political alternatives. Criminal prosecution against one, search of another, public accusation of a state body against a third, economic or administrative pressure against a fourth. Law enforcers and courts are no longer independent bodies of justice, but are the last link that gives a legal appearance to a political decision.

Ortega has already removed the mask, but Pashinyan’s system still needs it in order to show democracy to the outside world and present the reproduction of power internally as a choice of the people.

Therefore, the difference between Nicaragua and Armenia for now is not in the nature of the government, but in the distance covered by the authoritarian path.

Nicaragua is not a distant Latin American story. It is a mirror at the end of our chosen path.
Ortega has already said what Pashinyan’s system is still trying to hide behind the election sign. the people can vote, but the government no longer accepts the people’s right to change itself.

Davit Ananyan, former chairman of the RA SRC

—

The Government of Armenia has approved a new state border crossing regulation for cargo vehicles, which aims to centralize queue management and increase the capacity of checkpoints.

According to the decision made at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on July 23, the exit of trucks through the “Bagratashen” and “Agarak” checkpoints will be carried out exclusively after entering and leaving special parking lots. The maximum fee for the electronic queuing service has been legally fixed at AMD 5,000.

Meanwhile, the entire flow management process will be entrusted to the State Revenue Committee (SRC).

The new procedure envisages a number of exceptions in order to ensure uninterrupted logistics of vital cargo. Vehicles transporting perishable goods, as well as trucks of authorized economic operators and those with a law-abiding tax payer certificate, have received the right to emergency service. In addition, in order to eliminate the consequences of natural or man-made disasters, vehicles carrying humanitarian and technical cargo will cross the state border, bypassing the parking lots altogether.

As the SRC president explained Eduard Hakobyan, new parking infrastructures are subject to strict technical standards.

The specialized zones must be located within a radius of no more than 20 km from the checkpoint, have an asphalted area of ​​at least 3000 square meters and be equipped with modern video surveillance systems that will be immediately integrated into the unified digital network of the department.

—