On Saturday, Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to “Dukhov” in Yerevan was catastrophic, not only with hysterical shouting at our compatriot from Artsakh in the Yerevan subway and in general fiasco while going down the escalator in the metro station, getting the total contempt of the people going up in parallel, in response to his hearts, hugs and greetings, not only the young man sitting next to him and standing a little later journalistwith the rejection of himself and his agenda, but also with a series of excesses in his own Shengavit community, his former residence in the 3rd part.

Middle finger shown from above to Nikol Pashinyan and Alen Simonyan sitting below, incident with the participation of Alen Simonyan, CP deputies and members of the 3rd party and as a result, a call for their deportation from the yard: “Be cool, get out of here, nothingness” wording, mocking call“There is good jengyal bread here, tell me, let him come and try it” by a member of the opposition faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders, clearly mocking Nikol Pashinyan’s passion for food… The day was full of incidents.

There were other incidents, not public, which we will refer to, because developments are expected with them, but a very telling fact was also recorded that day.

According to 168.am, car washes, small shops, vegetable stalls, bakeries were closed that day in Shengavit… The owners simply closed the doors and left until Nikol Pashinyan walked around and left Shengavit to quietly go about their daily lives.

To our question, why, one of them answered, “I’m sorry, I’ll take your pain away. It’s a topic, but am I willing?”

There is a famous Armenian cartoon called “Mirror”. people localized its realities.

Nikol Pashinyan can’t not know this, can’t not see it, can’t feel the hatred he has generated towards himself and his team with his own self-instilled hatred, can’t not understand that people are no longer afraid and are publicly responding to the disasters he has committed. The answer to this will obviously not be late. His curators will have the answer and reaction to it, but the fact that Nikol Pashinyan is not at least the guy who will go out on the streets in Yerevan and the once beloved democratic leader is an irrefutable fact and reality.

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The Heritage Foundation’s 2026 “Index of Economic Freedom” report (about 176 countries of the world) is not another statistical report for Armenia, but a sober and unbiased assessment of the policies of the current government.

Armenia, having 67.1 points out of a possible 100, continues to be among “moderately free” countries. At first glance, this can be perceived as stability, but in fact it is a long-term stoppage of progress. For 5 years, Armenia remains in the same group, which means that the government has not been able to ensure any qualitative progress, despite loud announcements about reforms.

Moreover, the increase of 1.7 points recorded in 2026 is not a new achievement, but: a return to the figure recorded more than a decade ago, in 2015. In other words, the policy implemented for years has exhausted the previously accumulated potential: In 2017, Armenia even managed to make the transition to a higher group of “mostly free” countries. In short, the “reforms” trumpeted by the authorities over the last 8 years have not pushed the country forward, but pushed the country back, nullifying the previously recorded progress.

The current authorities will presumably try to rely on the growth of some sub-indices: “trade”, “monetary” or “financial freedom”. But even here the picture is very worrying. For example, the current indicator of “trade freedom” (75.0 points) exceeds only the indicators of the previous five years, and before such a low result was last recorded in 1999. It is simply frivolous to talk about any structural progress here.

At the same time, more importantly, indicators of a systemic nature remain highly problematic. The level of “freedom of labor” is significantly inferior to the indicators of 2007-2017, and a result lower than the current value of “investment freedom” was last recorded in 2007. This is a clear signal that the economic environment has lost its attractiveness for both internal and external actors.

However, the most problematic image was formed in the “rule of law” group. Armenia ranks among the “economically oppressed” countries in two fundamental directions: “property right protection” and “effectiveness of justice”, significantly lagging behind the world average indicators. This means that the fundamental conditions necessary for the normal development of the economy are not provided in the country: protection of property, applicability of contracts, independent and efficient judicial system.

In other words, the investor in Armenia does not have sufficient guarantees, the business does not trust the courts, and the citizen does not see the impartial application of the law. And this assessment is made not in the framework of internal political criticism, but in the analysis of an international authoritative structure.

In this context, it is not possible not to mention the state’s seizure of the HEC, the inglorious activities of the “ANIF” fund, as a result of which millions of dollars were lost. these are prime examples of possible developments for investors, which definitely did not escape the attention of the authors of the report.

Forceful and non-transparent interventions by the state towards large economic objects create an atmosphere of uncertainty, where ownership becomes subject to political whims.

The summary is simple․ The political force that came to power with the agenda of economic freedom in 2018 could not only develop, but also preserve the previous achievements. When property is not fully protected, courts are not trusted, and the rules of the game can be changed at any time based on political expediency, the economy cannot be free.

Under these conditions, any “growth” is temporary, and any “success” is fragile. And the problem is not in the indicators, but in the system. Until that system is changed, the regression will continue.

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About two months before the NA elections, an initiative group was created, which will consistently demand from the current authorities to publicize the report of the investigative commission related to the 44-day war, in particular, through actions organized in front of the NA, which started yesterday, March 24.

The initiating group, the members of which are the chairman of “Luysi Chirag” NGO Arsen Ghukasyanuh Chairman of “Armenian National Front” organization Gevorg Gevorgyan, Chairman of “Reviving Artsakh” NGO Anastas Israelian, attorney Harutyun Baghdasaryan and group coordinator Mikael Margaryanuh the current authorities are required to publicize the findings of the investigative commission, so that the public knows who are guilty, responsible, how this or that order was made, etc.

The members of the group even remembered the statement of Andranik Kocharyan, the chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs, that there are thousands of criminal cases related to the 44-day war, and new ones will be created as a result of the report.

In particular, Gevorg Gevorgyan noted that for 4-5 years they were saying that “the commission investigating the circumstances of the 44-day war will shed light on all criminals, there will be judicial acts, arrests, but suddenly everyone kept silent about it, as if they delayed the deadlines.” Of course, there are criminal cases, but only the military goes through them, and the judicial examination of many high-profile cases is conducted behind closed doors, in general, important military and high-profile criminal cases.

As for the 44-day report, Andranik Kocharyan has stated on various occasions that it would be correct to make a certain part of the report or the 20-page conclusion public.

Another question is: to what extent will he support the initiative group making such a demand, especially when letters were sent to the NA factions?

And before that, we discussed several episodes related to the 44-day report with Tigran Abrahamyan, secretary of the NA “I have the honor” faction, their faction has already received the letter from the public group.

– Your faction made a political decision from the beginning: noto participate investigator of the commission to the works, for which valid reasons were given. But now side are you and: ready are you support proactive to the group, which is valid requires the authorities to make it public the report, and if this requirement is met, then optional segments will be made public. On time AX: in the session of 2020 On September 30, former head of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan speech with connected bitter experience there iswhen selective and out-of-context excerpts were leaked, and the full transcript was never released despite the general’s request.

In: by the way, to the initiative group that support what? way is to be, when active NA:–in: to the activity little is left, ends.

– When in 2022 the investigative commission was created, and our political force decided not to participate in the work, our main approach was that the government, during whose administration there was a defeat, the consequence of which was thousands of victims, captured, missing, wounded, in this case, that government, regardless of its political views and approaches at that time, could not conduct an objective investigation.

Along with that, there were also other circumstances, for example, the head of the ruling power made statements, by which, in fact, he directed the judicial system in the direction of this or that episode of the war, the military, to take the case in the appropriate direction. Before the court proceedings started, specific people were called traitors and defectors by name. And it was obvious that there was no expectation from that authority to work normally in the investigative commission and to have an objective report.

Regarding the questioning of Onik Gasparyan in the commission, I can say that if I’m not mistaken, there was a 5-6 hour speech (the former head of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia was questioned for 2 days, one day’s questioning lasted more than 5 hours. – M.P.). I’m not familiar with the whole thing, I’ve certainly seen references to his speech in the report, but from what I’ve seen, I think it might have been about 5-10 percent of the full speech.

And the government, naturally, approached all discussions and speakers selectively, and, yes, took the part that was necessary for it in terms of securing its political line.

In other words, the problem was taking responsibility from Nikol Pashinyan and the political leadership and putting it on different circles, particularly the military. And first of all, those military personnel who could or did talk about various episodes were targeted, and the government went that way to silence them and “punish” people in the context of presenting the reality. In the ways and means of supporting that initiative group, my contact with a large number of martyrs, missing people, prisoners, family members of people who were seriously injured does not start today or tomorrow, it started immediately after the war. after. I have met with them on many topics, from actions to discussions on how to move and how to reach a fair resolution of the situation.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with several people who are quite persistent on this topic, relatives of the missing. We talked with them, I presented my approaches, I said how much I can invest my efforts in the common cause. Moreover, regardless of whether the work of the parliament ends or not, I will fight this issue to the best of my ability.

– In any case, you have familiarized yourself with the “content” of the report. is there episode, topic, the publicity of which can is beneficial not to be the authorities թեկուզ՝ military management from interrogation:

– The vast majority of the facts of the war, pre-war, and post-war period naturally work against the government. And if these primary facts were to be examined by the investigative committee and put in the report, moreover, they were to be published, of course, it would create serious problems for the government, and even the question of their legal responsibility would come to the fore. Therefore, it is natural that they built the 44-day report, especially its introductory and final parts, within the framework of the government’s well-known propaganda narrative, where the facts were secondary, and the formulations, labels, and qualifications were in the first place. which the government used based on political and propaganda expediency.

– By the way, official and: no official frames consider are, that the report does not have legal status, you what? do you have an opinion? that in terms of:

– I don’t want to make an assessment now, whether it has a legal status or not, but I want to remind you that in 2021-2022, in order to calm people down, manipulate them, and shift responsibility, the government constantly referred to the report of the investigative commission, that it will give answers to all questions related to various episodes of war, martyrdom, and capture of people.

And now we actually have a situation where that report has been archived in some capacity, and the people who were told to respond to topics that were considered vital to them through the report, were not actually answered. And in this regard, I consider the demand of those people fair and understandable.

– In the future necessity see? are you, that new investigator committee be created, or Nicole: Pashinyan of power during created of the report publicity enough is:

– I don’t know if in the future it will be done in the form of an investigative commission or law enforcement agencies, but obviously the 44-day war has not only a detailed analysis, but also a legal assessment. There are people who are responsible for the huge loss of life in the area, but they are not reported or seen by law enforcement in any way.

This is a historic turning point, tragic on the one hand, and creating opportunities for our people to move forward on the other. And, of course, all the episodes of this war, from diplomatic to actual military operations, should be investigated in detail, and according to responsibility, law enforcement should also act.

– There are many criminal cases related to the 44-day war, which are closed in the courts and whose statutes of limitations are running out.

– The government has brought up the secrecy factor in almost all matters and they are held behind closed doors. One of them, for example, refers to the former commander of the Armed Forces Mikael Arzumanyan. M. Arzumanyan himself, with whom I had meetings in the penitentiary, raised this topic himself, he said that what was attributed to him by various representatives of the government is slander, and to make sure of it, the court hearings can be held in an open format, and it will become very obvious to the public. But the authorities are not naive, there are various cases, where the priority for them is to conduct them under closed regime, because of these cases holding it in open mode would just explode the lies and falsehoods that the post-war government has spread and tried to present to people as reality.

P.S. Let’s add a few episodes on the topic. 168.amthe other day wrote that after handing over the report of the investigative commission to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Andranik Kocharyan, the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs of the National Assembly, stated that it was more than 200 pages long, but the other day, in an interview, he said that it was more than 400. Later we were informed that the report has been attached The analysis of the former head of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia Onik Gasparyan (this did not seem to have happened when Tigran Abrahamyan read the report) and Andranik Kocharyan’s letter-analysis sent to Nikol Pashinyan regarding the Su-30s.

Note that in 2025 at the end, Pashinyan in the National Assembly had announced. “Even if there are 6 such investigative commissions, it will not be able to collect more information than what I said.”

Anyway, despite the many writings, Alen Simonyan refused the request of the former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan to get acquainted with the report. And still in 2021 In a conversation with 168.am, the former head of the General Directorate of Internal Affairs, Onik Gasparyan had said. “The truth can be revealed only in case of a change of power.”

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For several days, the international community has been trying to understand what negotiations are taking place between the United States and Iran, in what format, or whether or not negotiations are taking place at all.

It has been three days since US President Donald Trump announced that they are negotiating with Iran to end the war, while official Tehran denies the information spread by Washington at the level of all possible officials.

However, the remarkable thing is that the US President Trump, before the negotiations have even started, gives details, notes that the Secretary of State and the Vice President are involved in the negotiations, who are negotiating with the “right people” in Iran. Trump assures that Iran has refused to acquire nuclear weapons, which Iran has always stated, and also Trump declares that Tehran has made a big concession to the United States regarding the energy sector. According to him, we are talking about a valuable gift. Trump also hopes that further negotiations will be effective.

Iran’s relevant departments deny the information about the negotiations, insisting that Iran’s message is clear, they continue to defend themselves. The spokesman of the Iranian army, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, also stated that the US is negotiating with itself, and called not to call its defeat an “agreement”.

“You will no longer see your investments in the region, nor the previous prices of energy carriers and oil, until you understand that stability in the region is guaranteed by our powerful military,” said the spokesman of the Iranian army.

Western media also reported that White House officials told American media that the US had conveyed a 15-point proposal to Iran through Pakistan. Iran is reportedly being offered to dismantle three major nuclear facilities, halt uranium enrichment, limit support to its proxies, fully open the Strait of Hormuz and limit its missile program in exchange for the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions, and the US will support Iran’s civilian nuclear program. Western media also say that Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan are trying to organize a meeting between the US and Iran within 48 hours. between in Islamabad. Pakistan has confirmed that it is ready to host the talks.

Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, however, said that direct or indirect negotiations with the US are not underway yet, but “friendly countries” are holding consultations with the parties.

Said Jalili, the new secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, announced that after 25 days, Iran’s enemies admit that they have reached a point where Iran’s power has become obvious. “Whenever the enemy senses weakness and you get to their rear, they resort to deception and trickery to continue their operations. Previously, the enemy said: “I will not allow Iran to sell one barrel of oil.”

Now that we have fought back, even without our request, they say: “Go buy oil from Iran.” Isn’t this a manifestation of Iran’s power? We must consolidate and develop this force. The progress of our country must be consolidated and guaranteed, and this requires that anyone who tries to threaten our people repent of their threat,” Jalili stated.

While announcements and processes of negotiations do not stop, the war continues, according to Reuters, the Pentagon plans to send ground troops to the Middle East to begin a ground operation.

168.amin a conversation with Russian analyst Vladimir Yevseyev said that such asymmetric situations in international relations are quite common and often reflect a multi-layered strategy.

In his assessment, Trump’s rhetoric can be considered as a tool of diplomatic pressure.

“Talking about negotiations, Washington is trying to create a perception that Iran is forced to sit at the table, even if it does not admit it publicly. This is a psychological and political pressure on Tehran, and also creates a certain background around the war, that Iran is asking for a cease-fire, is ready for concessions, etc. Tehran’s denial also aims to neutralize the goal that the American regime pursues with these statements.

The American regime also pursues domestic political goals with this, as the war raises new grievances against President Trump in the United States every day. He is trying to maintain his political image.

It also tries to do this among its allies and partners, showing that the US is in the role of controlling the situation. However, many people understand that everything is not as it is announced,” Yevseyev said.

However, he also does not exclude, moreover, he is sure that there are attempts to approach the parties, which are done by mediators, of which there are several.

“Judging by the information, there is an intermediary, behind-the-scenes work by a third country. Another thing that is also clear is that, despite this work, Iran currently has an incomparably tougher stance than at any previous stage, and this complicates the situation for both the mediators and the US.

On the other hand, I think the US is also considering the land scenario, although it seems risky and complicated. However, Trump’s statements about the negotiations should be understood more as a strategic tool, which is an attempt to currently solve a number of problems that have arisen for the United States as a result of this war,” Yevseev said.

According to his observation, the US does not want to lose either in war operations or in the information field, suffering great image losses. “It is extremely important for a country like the United States,” he said.

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