The U.S. State Department’s top official dealing with human rights visited the Armenian Embassy in Washington on Thursday to discuss a range of issues, including religious freedom in Armenia.
In a short statement, the embassy said Armenian Ambassador Narek Mkrtchian “emphasized the importance of U.S. support for strengthening democratic institutions” in his country when he hosted Riley Barnes, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
It said the meeting focused on the planned opening of a U.S.-administered transit corridor through Armenia as well as “hybrid threats, countering disinformation, and a number of issues related to religious freedom.” It did not elaborate on those issues.
“The interlocutors reaffirmed their readiness to deepen cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” added the statement.
The State Department issued no readouts of Barnes’s meeting with Mkrtchian as of Friday.
It was thus not clear whether they touched upon Prime Minister Nikol Pashuinian’s nearly yearlong attempts to depose the supreme head of the Armenia Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II. Armenian opposition figures and other critics of Pashinian maintain that his campaign, which has been companied by arrests of senior clergymen, violates Armenia’s constitution guaranteeing the church’s separation from the state.
Two Western religious rights groups echoed these claims in February. One of them, the Vienna-based the Forum for Religious Freedom Europe, spoke of “grave threats to freedom of religion or belief” in Armenia. U.S. officials have not publicly commented on Pashinian’s campaign.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance lavished praise on the Armenian premier and endorsed him ahead of Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections when he visited Yerevan in February. Vance said Pashinian’s reelection is essential for the launch of the transit arrangement to be named after U.S. President Donald Trump.
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Karapetian’s House Arrest Extended
- Naira Bulghadarian
A court in Yerevan extended billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s house arrest by three months on Friday, preventing his in-person participation in campaigning for Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections in which his opposition movement is expected to be a key player.
The decision demanded by prosecutors was announced during a second court hearing in Karapetian’s high-profile trial that began on Wednesday nearly ten months after his arrest.
The hearing came as hundreds of his supporters rallied outside the court building, chanting “Samvel Prime Minister!” and “Freedom!” Some of them jostled with riot police at one point. At least 17 protesters were detained as a result.
As he was escorted out of the courtroom, Karapetian, who was allowed by the court to give interviews to media, claimed the extension of his house arrest shows that the Armenian authorities are “afraid” of him. Speaking to journalists, he also said he is fully confident about his Strong Armenia party’s victory in the elections scheduled for June 7.
Strong Armenia is now regarded as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s number one opposition challenger. Fourteen more members and supporters of the party were arrested on Thursday on vote buying charges rejected by Karapetian’s associates as politically motivated. They claimed that the authorities may be preparing the ground for the party’s disqualification from the polls.
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly warned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian against such a ban on this or other “pro-Russian” opposition groups during their April 1 talks in Moscow. Karapetian has mostly lived in Russia since the early 1990s, making a fortune there estimated by the Forbes magazine at over $4 billion.
The tycoon on Wednesday dismissed Pashinian allies’ implicit claims that he is acting on the Kremlin’s orders.
“Russia only guides Pashinian,” he said. “I am guided by the Armenian people.”
Karapetian was arrested last June hours after condemning Pashinian’s attempts to depose the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and vowing to defend it “in our way.” The statement provoked a series of furious social media posts by Pashinian, who pledged to “deactivate” him.
Karapetian was initially accused of calling for a violent overthrow of the government. Law-enforcement authorities also charged him with tax evasion, fraud and money laundering in July after he announced plans to challenge Pashinian in the June 2026 elections. He strongly denies all charges.
The 60-year-old had never showed an interest in political activities before his arrest. He said on Wednesday that the “injustices” against the church and himself forced him to enter Armenian politics.
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Armenian Government In No Rush To Disclose New Constitution Draft
- Gayane Saribekian
Armenia’s government appears to be reluctant to publicize before the June 7 parliamentary elections its draft of a new Armenian constitution demanded by Azerbaijan.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has pledged to try to enact the kind of constitutional change that Azerbaijan has set as a necessary condition for ending the conflict with Armenia. Baku specifically objects to a preamble to the current constitution referring to a 1990 Armenian declaration of independence, which in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
It has made clear that it will not sign an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty, initialed last August, unless Yerevan removes the reference. The only legal way to do that is to adopt a new constitution through a referendum.
Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian said earlier this year that the new constitution drafted by her ministry will be made public in March. That has still not happened.
Galian told reporters on Friday that the draft is “not yet ready publication.” She gave no clear reason for the delay or set any dates for the document’s disclosure.
Galian also declined to say whether the 1990 declaration is referenced in the draft. Pashinian again spoke out against such reference last month. He continued to deny bowing to yet another Azerbaijani demand. Some observers say he is reluctant to publish the draft now in order not to give the Armenian opposition more ammunition in the run-up to the showdown elections.
The country’s leading opposition groups have pledged to scuttle the change of the constitution sought by Pashinian. They say that his continuing unilateral concessions only encourage Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to make more demands on Armenia and will not bring real peace.
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Pashinian Argues Against Opposition Presence In Next Armenian Parliament
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Friday that the three opposition groups widely regarded as his main election challengers must win no seats in Armenia’s next parliament that will be elected on June 7.
“This is becoming an increasingly realistic political objective with each passing day,” Pashinian told the outgoing National Assembly.
“Whoever thinks that these three political forces could enter the parliament shows disrespect [for voters,]” he said.
Pashinian accused former President Robert Kocharian’s Hayastan alliance, billionaire Samvel Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party and the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) led by another wealthy businessman, Gagik Tsarukian, of having insulted the electorate with their public statements. He said he therefore “cannot believe” that many Armenians will vote for them in the upcoming elections.
The remarks contrasted with statements made by senior members of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party in March and February this year. In a series of social media posts, they signaled concerns that the three opposition forces could collectively win a majority in the next parliament and thus oust Pashinian. They said at the same time that the country’s leadership “will not allow” such an outcome, stoking media speculation that at least some of the opposition heavyweights could be barred from the June 7 elections.
Pashinian has stepped up attacks on Strong Armenia, Hayastan and the BHK since then. In his latest speech on the parliament floor, he again branded them as a “three-headed party of war” keen to reignite Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan. Opposition leaders say he is resorting to scaremongering in a desperate bid to avoid losing power.
The speech came at the end of a three-day parliament debate on the current Armenian government’s execution of its five-year policy program adopted following the last general elections held in 2021. Opposition lawmakers again accused Pashinian and his party of failing to deliver on their main 2021 campaign promises. They also continued to blame the premier for the 2020 war with Azerbaijan, Baku’s subsequent recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh and grave security challenges facing Armenia.
“You are the one who brought war, you are the one who brought disasters, you are the one who brought losses, and you will continue to bring them if you remain in power,” one of them, Hayastan’s Artsvik Minasian, charged.
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RFE/RL – Pro-Pashinian Bishop Accused Of Assault
- Susan Badalian
An Armenian deacon on Friday claimed to have been physically attacked by a bishop who has joined Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in demanding Catholicos Garegin II’s resignation.
The long-serving clergyman, Gegham Avetisian, said Bishop Anushavan Zhamkochian repeatedly hit him right after a recent Easter Eve service in Yerevan’s St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.
“I don’t know if that can be considered a beating, but he dealt me several blows,” Avetisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
He said he is still taking medication to cope with what he described as mental pain caused by the April 4 incident.
Zhamkochian, who oversees the country’s largest cathedral, denied assaulting Avetisian. He said he only reprimanded the latter over “proper performance of a deacon’s duties” after the service led by Archimandrite Poghos Vardapetian.
Vardapetian said that during the service the bishop ordered the deacon to descend from the cathedral’s altar and stop participating in the ceremony for unknown reasons.
“I called [Avetisian] and wondered if there is a [reason for such an order,]” Vardapetian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “He said no. I therefore said, ‘Stay on and continue your ministry so that the liturgical service does not suffer.’”
Zhamkochian and Avetisian had a one-on-one meeting in an adjacent room after the service, Vardapetian said. He described the deacon as a “very humble, obedient and servile person devoted to the church.”
Avetisian has served as a deacon for 23 years and remains loyal to Garegin. By contrast, Zhamkochian was among about a dozen senior clergymen who broke ranks last November to join Pashinian’s controversial campaign against the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
One of them, the California-based Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, effectively pledged renewed allegiance to Garegin in February. He signed a joint statement by over two dozen bishops that condemned Armenia’s authorities for their “unfounded prosecution” of the Catholicos. Another renegade bishop, Abraham Mkrtchian, retired from the church one month later with Garegin’s permission requested by him.
Pashinian began his campaign last May right after Garegin accused Azerbaijan of committing ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and illegally occupying Armenian border areas during an international conference in Switzerland.
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They call every day and ask for help to fix my head. Nar
April 17, 2026
Many people call the members of the “Strong Armenia” party and ask for help. Narek Karapetyan, a member of the party’s council, said this in a conversation with journalists, referring to the recordings and arrests with the alleged participation of their party and supporters.
“Directed and in a special way, every day they call the members of our movement and ask for help. It is done so that someone says: I will think about it, and they make something in their head. Mrs. Ghumashyan spoke with a 104-year-old woman, a veteran of the Second World War. He has been taking care of that woman’s birthdays and other occasions for 5 years now,” said Karapetyan.
He also emphasized that the law enforcement officers have already interrogated the 104-year-old woman in the framework of the case.
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It is unprecedented in the history of Armenia. Vardevanyan, paid by Samvel Karapetyan
April 17, 2026
Leader of the “Strong Armenia” party, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan paid an unprecedented amount of bail. more than 10 million dollars. This was announced by Karapetyan’s lawyer Aram Vardevanyan during the session at the RA Anti-Corruption Court.
Let us remind that in 2025 on December 30, the court changed the businessman’s restraining order and the detention was replaced by bail and house arrest. However, the amount of the bail was not known.
“The amount of the bail is unprecedented in the history of Armenia… 4 billion drams (approximately 10.6 million dollars),” said the lawyer.
It should be noted that at the moment, the court session in the case of changing Samvel Karapetyan’s restraining order to house arrest is underway in the RA Anti-Corruption Court.
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“Hundreds of thousands of citizens will vote for the opposition on June 7.
April 17, 2026
Eduard Sharmazanov wrote: “It is the height of insolence when the country’s ruler calls hundreds of thousands of RA citizens who did not elect him “dogs and shangyals”.
The “bastion of democracy” of Nikolism is reaching new heights.
Sensing the fiasco awaiting him, Pashinyan notes: “I can’t believe it, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, if I say now, you know what, if Strong Armenia, the Armenia Alliance, the strong RPA, the Armenia Alliance and the PAP can pass to the parliament, then I will cross my mind that there are so many dogs and scumbags in the Republic of Armenia that I can vote for them.”
Do you understand… the person holding the position of RA Prime Minister literally calls RA citizens who vote for the opposition “dogs and dogs”.
The capitulant is following the path of his “educated and constructive partner” Aliyev.
Aliyev called the Armenians of the world fascists and enemies, Nikol called the citizens who voted for the opposition “dogs and shangyal”.
Hundreds of thousands of citizens will vote for the opposition on June 7. Who are you to call a citizen of Armenia a “dog and shangyal”?
Time will put everyone in their place.
The day will come and the good will come, we will see who is “dog and shangyal””.
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It is interesting: when will the Armenian opposition eventually come out of the CP formation?
April 17, 2026
Vahe Davtyan, doctor of political sciences, professor, energy security specialist, writes: “It is interesting: when will the Armenian opposition finally leave the boundaries of the narratives created by the CP?”
Criticism is undoubtedly necessary. However, remaining within the framework of the previously given agenda, it inevitably reproduces the authors of that agenda. Without its own independent Project, such criticism turns into a form of political reproduction of the authorities. It does not destroy the dominant discourse, but only ensures its continuous circulation.
In this sense, the opposition is increasingly resembling a significant part of the expert community of the post-Soviet area, endlessly interpreting events and statements without integrating them into a single worldview.
The problem, therefore, is not the lack of facts or arguments, but the inability to go beyond the meta-level of analysis. In this case, the meta-level of politics, where not reactions, but meanings and directions are formed.
The consequence of this is the gradual erosion of the political process. Politics is reduced to the level of everyday, almost domestic debate, losing its strategic dimension and ability to project the future.
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We will have a strong Armenia very soon. Samvel Karapetyan spoke
April 17, 2026
There will be changes, very soon we will have a strong Armenia, Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the “Strong Armenia” party, said this in the courtroom.
“Lawyer Vardevanyan presented all the illegalities that exist in these accusations, so I have nothing to add in that regard. I just want to record that all the illegalities of our legal system, I am sure, are directed against me, against all the members of our team, in order to try to stop the dream of our people to have a strong Armenia. But I assure you, they will not succeed, everything is moving forward. There will be changes, very soon we will have a strong Armenia,” said Samvel Karapetyan.
To remind, the issue of Samvel Karapetyan’s restraining order is being examined in the court today.
Karapetyan’s defense attorney Aram Vardevanyan lobbied to abolish the house arrest applied to him, proposing to increase the amount of bail already set. According to the lawyer, Karapetyan is ready to pay about 400 million drams in addition to 4 billion drams, noting that no violations have been recorded in the last 10 months.
It should be noted that, parallel to the court session, Karapetyan’s supporters are holding an action in the court yard, demanding his release.
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