Classic ugliness. Iveta Tonoyan on the decision of the Central Election Commission

Emil Lazarian

What happened in the Central Electoral Commission is nothing but classic ugliness. In the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness, this scandal was a direct blow to the PAP, the purpose of which is to prevent the PAP from entering the National Assembly by all possible means.

It is obvious that the results of the precincts where the Prosperous Armenia Party received a large number of votes were declared invalid. This is the most obvious manifestation of the theft of voters’ votes, which once again proves that the ongoing process has nothing to do with the idea of ​​fair and transparent elections and casts doubt on the legitimacy of the entire election process. The adopted decision violates the citizens’ constitutional right to freely express their will in the most rude way.

We will fight against this illegal process with all possible legal and legal means. Already tomorrow, we will appeal this illegal decision and we will use all the legal tools to prevent and stop such arbitrariness.

Iveta Tonoyan, a candidate for deputy on the PAP list


VERELQ reported earlier that the CEC made a decision yesterday evening to invalidate the voting results of precincts 35/65 and 10/51.

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PAP starts a series of steps aimed at protecting justice and voter’s interests

Antranik Varosian

Dear compatriots,


The “Prosperous Armenia” party entered the election campaign with a good representative team, submitting the “Offer to Armenia” program to the electorate, on which dozens of specialists worked for months.
The main purpose of our participation in the elections was to prevent our country from possible dangerous developments, to insure us against visible economic and political dangers. We planned to have a civilized election campaign full of respect for the voter.

Unfortunately, in just the 4-5 days of the campaign, it became clear that the authorities were not interested in the civilized struggle. An ugly, illegal and immoral campaign was unleashed against us. Many of our supporters and activists were prosecuted and arrested on trumped-up charges. The ruling power waged a vulgar campaign against us full of insults and slander.

We decided not to give in to provocations and not to get into that vocabulary, that logic. Like me, active members of our team never lowered the bar of civilized debate, we stayed within the framework of political struggle.

After all the obstacles, power and propaganda attacks, the campaign conducted in the conditions of absolute inequality, even in the conditions of the unprecedented use of administrative resources and the elections held with tremendous pressure on the voter, our political strength did not break and gathered enough votes to enter the parliament. First, our votes were technically reduced, and we started a recount, which allowed us to recover the missing votes.

When there was no longer any doubt that the PAP was in the parliament, the government decided to go to open massacre. a CEC meeting was secretly held late in the evening, where the elections held in two precincts were canceled without calling for a re-vote, as required by the Election Code.

It is obvious that the elections were canceled in those precincts where PAP received a lot of votes. At the same time, the results of those precincts where the nullification of PAP votes could not affect the outcome of the elections were not canceled.

Dear compatriots, dear people,
We started an honest political struggle, but all possible illegal measures were and continue to be applied against us. I want to assure you that we will continue to defend your vote of confidence by all means not prohibited by law. This is not only the problem of the Prosperous Armenia Party, it is the problem of all of Armenia’s post-election developments, of all of us. Our team will work actively today and in the coming days, cooperating with all our partners in the opposition.

I would like to thank all the political forces, public figures, and media who have supported us since last night.

PAP is starting a series of steps aimed at protecting justice and the interests of voters, and confronting the illegalities of the government. Our legal teams work on all possible appeals and court proceedings. We are starting political consultations with political forces to develop a common agenda and steps.

Dear compatriots,
All the promises and assurances given to you are valid, nothing has changed and will not change.
I am your Tsarukyan.


Gagik Tsarukyan, chairman of the “Prosperous Armenia” party




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Judging by the pace of events, everything will be much faster

Ani Basmajian

There is no internal politics in Armenia. All the processes going on inside Armenia in at least the last 200 years are exclusively the continuation of foreign policy.


The reason for that is geography. Due to its geographical location, Armenia has been and always remains at the center of global geopolitical processes. In school textbooks, this was formulated with the empty sentence “Armenia was a bone of contention between x and y”, where x and y changed, but the phenomenon itself did not change, forming a kind of complex.


Meanwhile, this has a clear political science explanation. Regardless of what is happening inside Armenia, there is a wider, global reality that influences, if you will, predetermines the logic of events inside Armenia. For the Armenian state and the Armenian people, these processes dictate both the state process and public life. Good or bad, but we don’t have the luxury to build a state and society directly, from scratch and in “sterile conditions”. The external environment does not allow strong differences to exist inside Armenia: right and left, conservatives or liberals, greens and communists. It is an unacceptable luxury. In this area, the state must be ready to be the focus of external processes. Therefore, it should be a highly militarized, rapidly mobilized and developed Sparta. The reason for this is just one variable that decides everything.


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In the last 150 years, the main external challenge of Armenia has not changed. In the east and west of Armenia, there are two Turkic states, Turkey and Azerbaijan, which aim to remove the Armenian factor between them in order to unite and expand their sphere of influence. As they say, removing the “cursed Armenian wedge” is the main way to ensure the vitality of their states. Again, not because they are Armenian-haters by birth, but because from a political point of view, the Armenian political project interferes with the Turkish political project due to its position. This is not a whim, a preference or an idea of ​​an individual politician. This is one of the pillars of Turkish political thought, from Enver to Erdogan.


This challenge exists, and it should be at the basis of the calculation of any action of any Armenian force, from a politician to a party, from an NGO to a state institution. Again. this is not good or bad, this is reality. One can have disagreements on pensions, agricultural credit or any other similar issue, but the first benchmark of any political program is the Turkish threat. Whatever is done, whatever is drawn, should be based on the following question. How does this help/hinder to neutralize the Turkish objective threat?


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This is a reality that is avoided at all costs not only by a part of the citizens, but also by the forces of the national field. Meanwhile, this approach does not allow not only to see the real challenge in time and predict the developments, but also to face them effectively.


Now let’s come to the elections. the national forces are obliged to take into account the Turkish threat and in no case underestimate it. In their programs (not in pre-election propaganda), but in real political programs, one should take into account the fact that Turkey and Azerbaijan currently have clear tools to spread influence over Armenia. Therefore, if there is an obvious demand from their side to change the Constitution and it is not possible to achieve this by convincing the Armenian people (they tried and are trying, but they did not succeed), then there is no possibility to rely on fair and transparent elections. It’s just not there.


Therefore also. one cannot think that we live in Liechtenstein and we will have fair elections. Turkey and Azerbaijan will not allow it, as they have influence in Armenia. Therefore, it is impossible to move forward without alternative plans (the so-called “plan B”). It is simply not possible.


It is not too late to think about it and reorganize the national struggle. The Turkish threat is real and orientational, the actions of the national forces, if you will, the way of life should derive from this and in no case the other way around, remembering that there is no internal political life, there is a continuation of the external.


Judging by the pace of events, everything will be much faster at this stage of the struggle.


Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan




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“Strong Armenia” is currently applying to declare the election results invalid

Edgar Tavakalian

Right now, the “Strong Armenia” party is submitting an application to the CEC to declare the results of the parliamentary elections invalid.


Narek Karapetyan, a member of the party council, informed about this earlier.


“We have to cut the wings of the Communist Party in Armenia. With today’s situation, the Communist Party is already the weakest force, has lost its majority, has 50% fewer votes, and cannot change the Constitution on Aliyev’s instructions. But we will go deeper to review the results,” he said.

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Narek Karapetyan’s exit from the country was restricted

Emil Lazarian

We were supposed to be in Upper Lars today and present the shameful situation with Armenian trucks and the export of agricultural products, we were supposed to present live the approximately 15 km long line when Armenian agricultural products cannot cross the border. However, the border guards informed me that my visit there is prohibited and put a restriction on me. Narek Karapetyan, head of the “Strong Armenia” party list, announced this during a live broadcast on Facebook.


“Now “Armat Media” will do it, and I will continue to follow the processes from here,” Karapetyan noted.


VERELQ reminds that “Rosselkhoznadzor” has limited the import of quarantine goods from Armenia since June 12, 2026.

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The Ministry of Defense delegation was in Brussels

Maral Chavushian


On June 10-11, the delegation headed by the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Major General Artur Yeroyan, participated in the session of the Executive Academic Council of the European Security and Defense College in Brussels, at the headquarters of the European Commission.


During the event, Major General Artur Yeroyan presented the reforms implemented in the field of military education and training within the framework of the transformation of the RA Army.

Head of the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Arsen Mangasaryan and Tigran Harutyunyan, coordinator of the cooperation of the RA Ministry of Defense in the field of military education with NATO and the EU, also made speeches.


The representatives of the Executive Academic Council of the European Security and Defense College highly appreciated the reforms implemented in the RA military educational institutions and emphasized the expansion of cooperation, in particular, within the framework of the EU military “Erasmus” (EMILYO) program. Approval was given to the proposal of the National Defense Research University of the Ministry of Defense and the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Academy to join the college as an associate partner, which was forwarded to the college’s management committee for approval.


Within the framework of the visit to Brussels, the delegation of the RA Ministry of Defense met with the head of the Directorate of Defense and Security Cooperation, Piers Cazalet, at the NATO headquarters, and discussed issues related to the current programs and perspectives of cooperation in the field of defense.

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The price of silence of human rights defender Anahit Manasyan

Chakhmakhchian Vatche


After the “velvet revolutionaries” came to power in Armenia, an interesting pattern was formed. the more silent the official is in those moments when the country expects a principled position from him, the more successfully his career develops.


The story of the declaration of human rights defender Anahit Manasyan is from that series.


According to the published data, as of the end of 2024, two apartments in Yerevan, one car, around 17.7 million drams in bank deposits, as well as more than 61 million drams in bank accounts were under the management of the Human Rights Defender. The revenues of the reporting year amounted to about 19.5 million drams.


There is nothing sensational in these numbers. all property has been declared, income is of legal origin, and no violations of the law have been recorded.


However, the interest lies elsewhere: in the dynamics.


If at the end of 2023 there were about 26 million drams in Anahit Manasyan’s accounts, then a year later that amount exceeded 61 million. In other words, the funds increased by about 35 million drams within a year. Moreover, this happened in the conditions when the revenues of 2024 were lower than the previous year.


Such dynamics can have completely legal explanations: previously accumulated funds, redistribution of assets, change in the structure of savings. But in this case, the problem is not in numbers. The problem concerns the activity of the ombudsman.


Can anyone today remember at least one case when Anahit Manasyan got into a tough conflict with the authorities? When his position caused a serious political reaction. When the government had to justify itself after his statements.


There are almost no such examples.


Instead, there is constant caution in all government-sensitive matters, a tendency to avoid harsh wording, and an apparent disregard for what becomes the subject of wide public discussion.


This became especially evident during the last elections.


Throughout the campaign and after the election day, there were numerous reports of irregularities, misuse of administrative resources, pressure on voters, organized transfers and other circumstances that cast doubt on the confidence of a part of the public in the results.


The opposition announced massive violations of electoral rights. Videos and eyewitness accounts were shared on social networks. The society was waiting for a principled response from the institution, whose mission is to protect the rights of citizens, regardless of the political situation.


However, the loud and principled voice of the Human Rights Defender was never heard.


Meanwhile, the right to free and fair elections is one of the fundamental human rights. When there are serious doubts about the preservation of that right, the ombudsman should be one of the first to demand answers from the authorities.


If the Institute of the Human Rights Defender does not raise uncomfortable questions even when it comes to one of the most important democratic processes of the state, the question inevitably arises: what is that institute for and why does the state spend millions of drams on its maintenance every year?


Especially if we take into account that Anahit Manasyan came to that position from the same government system where he held the position of Deputy Prosecutor General. Back then, many people said that the government chooses not an independent defender, but a person most suitable for it.


Time passed, but those concerns did not disappear. On the contrary, today the Institute of the Defender of Human Rights has become a part of the state system, rather than a control mechanism over it.


Nikol Pashinyan and his team continue to talk about human rights, democracy and the independence of the institution. However, the Armenian society has too often faced the situation when beautiful statements do not coincide with reality.


People are judged not by words, but by results.


And the results are quite telling. In recent years, we have seen arrests of political opponents, prosecutions of critics, dispersal of protests by the use of disproportionate force, numerous complaints of electoral irregularities, and an unprecedented decline in trust in state institutions. However, against this background, the Institute of the Defender of Human Rights never became the center that was supposed to be a public counterbalance against the government’s arbitrariness.


Therefore, the problem is not Anahit Manasyan’s apartments, car, deposits or tens of millions of drams in his accounts.


The main question is what the citizen of the Republic of Armenia received in return for the existence of the institution, for the maintenance of which millions of drams are spent every year at the expense of taxpayers.


Source: Public Tribunal of Armenia




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Restrictions will be introduced for passenger cars in Yerevan

Arpi Talalian

In order to reduce traffic jams in Yerevan, certain restrictions will be set for passenger cars. Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan informed about this at the session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on June 12, while reporting on the mayor’s work.


According to the mayor, the first and main reason for traffic jams is economic growth, which in turn has led to a sharp increase in the number of cars, writes CivilNet.


“No matter how much we increase public transport in the city of Yerevan, which we have continuously implemented over the years, public transport cannot work according to its schedule if we do not have a limit for passenger cars,” Avinyan said.


He emphasized that “certain restrictions should be introduced for cars” and they should be replaced by separate, complete routes of public transport. According to the mayor, such a program will be implemented in Yerevan, as in all European cities, but already on the basis of concrete figures.


According to Avinyan, the decisions will be based on the work of the Yerevan Traffic Management Center. this institution was created to implement digital solutions and perform analysis. The mayor noted that the center has already started to give concrete results and is currently in the tender stage. a pilot program is being implemented, which will measure the flow of cars at the entrances of the capital. Based on these calculations, the program of changes will be presented during the year.


The mayor explained that as a result of the pilot program, they will have a clear picture of how many cars are currently entering Yerevan, what amount of parking spaces should be created at the entrances of the city and in which parts of the city, what types of restrictions will be introduced for passenger cars, and through which parts the separate bus and trolley lines will pass.


“We hope that we will have the preliminary image in September-October, and we will implement it in 2027,” said Avinyan.

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