Armenia needs internal de-escalation

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




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The construction right of the flooded plot of Sevan has been terminated

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.

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“West Azerbaijan” is not a right of return, but a tool of occupation

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




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Vahagn Khachaturyan was taken to the hospital

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.

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Democracy becomes scenery

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




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New procedure for border crossing of trucks in Armenia. a queuing system is introduced

Photo: golosarmenii.am

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.

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A criminal selling drugs through Telegram has been identified in Armenia

As a result of the comprehensive and effective preliminary investigation carried out within the framework of the criminal proceedings of the main department of the investigation of especially important cases of the RA Investigative Committee of human trafficking, crimes against the sexual integrity of minors and drug trafficking crimes, as well as operative-investigative measures carried out by the employees of the Yerevan Department of the RA NSS, during the years 2024-2026 through the online store-platforms of “Telegram”, with commercial motives, especially large-scale drug trafficking and smuggling the identities of AV, the leader of the group involved, and his wife, who carried out criminal activities within the group.


CC informs about it.


The latter were arrested and presented to the body conducting the proceedings when they tried to cross the RA state border.


On the basis of the collected evidence, a public criminal prosecution was initiated against them under Article 393, Part 3, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code (especially the illegal sale of large amounts of narcotics).


As a result of the investigative actions and operational-investigative complex measures taken, one more member of the criminal group was identified, and during the search of his apartment, around 2 kg of various types of drugs and the necessary accessories for their sale were found and seized.


The leader of the group was arrested, his wife was placed under house arrest as a preventive measure.


The preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings continues, extensive administrative actions are being carried out to find out the identities of the other participants involved in the criminal scheme and bring them to criminal responsibility.


Notice: the person accused of a crime is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in accordance with the procedure established by the Code of Criminal Procedure by a legally binding court verdict.

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Kapan has become the CIS youth capital of 2026. KGSMS

By the decision of the Council of Heads of Governments of the CIS, Kapan was recognized as the CIS Youth Capital of 2026.


On July 23-25, the events of the “Youth Capital of the CIS” program will be held in Kapan. Under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of CIS Artur Martirosyan, the regular session of the Council on Youth Affairs of the CIS Member States, the CIS International Youth Forum will take place.


The official opening ceremony of the program will be heralded by the concert program of the variety-symphonic orchestra of the Public Radio of Armenia. the solemn event will take place today, at 19:00, in the Kapan culture center. After the concert, a disco will be held in the central square of Kapan. Entry to the events is free.


A postage stamp with the symbol of the CIS youth capital of 2026 will be issued, a number of cultural and youth events will be held.


“Kapan: 2026 Members of the delegations of the CIS member states, representatives of youth organizations, who arrived in Kapan to participate in the events of the “CIS Youth Capital” program, will participate in the events of the “CIS Youth Capital” program.

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The purchase of apartments in new buildings in RA will become a remote visit without a notary

Photo: RBK

Foreign investors and RA citizens living abroad will get a unique opportunity to purchase real estate in new buildings in a completely remote format, bypassing complicated notary procedures and personal visits.


At the July 23 session, the Armenian government approved a project that significantly simplifies the process of purchasing property in apartment buildings under construction or already commissioned. Head of the Cadastre Committee Suren Tovmasyan the initiative presented by provides for the introduction of a fully electronic system for real estate transactions with mortgage lending.


The essence of the innovation is the integration of a special template in the electronic system of the Cadastre. From now on, the buyer, the developer and the bank can sign and validate a tripartite contract in the digital domain from anywhere in the world.


Then the financial institution itself will take over the obligation to submit that document to the state registration of ownership rights, freeing the buyer from unnecessary hassles.


In the past, for the implementation of such transactions, the physical presence of the buyer at a notary operating in the Republic of Armenia or the preparation and sending of a corresponding power of attorney was strictly required, which required additional time and costs from persons outside the country’s borders. Since banks already thoroughly check the client’s solvency and all necessary data when issuing a mortgage, it was decided to cancel the double notarization stage.


Referring to the new regulation, Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan emphasized that this step not only significantly simplifies the administration, but also testifies to the growing confidence of the state in the technologies used in the modern digital environment.

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Servicemen accused of causing suicide by negligence will be detained

On July 21, 2 servicemen accused of carelessly committing suicide of N.T., a soldier of the N military unit of the Ministry of Defense, were arrested. This is reported by the Investigative Committee.


Earlier, the Investigative Committee announced that during the preliminary investigation of the criminal proceedings initiated on July 21 regarding 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, under Article 522, Part 2. With items 1 and 3 (causing a serviceman to commit suicide by carelessness). As part of the proceedings, the latter were arrested and a petition was submitted to the court to apply detention as a preventive measure.

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