Sputnik News Service Friday 6:45 PM UTC US Must Counter Russia's 'Malign' Activity in Armenia - Senator Menendez WASHINGTON, June 29 (Sputnik) – The United States should resist Russia’s activities in Armenia, US Senator Robert Menendez said on Friday. “The Kremlin has made no secret of its agenda to undermine democracies across the world, and we must work together to counter such malign Russian influence in Armenia,” Menendez said in a statement after meeting with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian. Menendez acknowledged the multiple challenges Yerevan faces. In particular, he condemned the “Turkish aggression from the Eastern Mediterranean to northern Syria” as "unacceptable." The senator also called for an end to Azerbaijan's "bellicose behavior" in Nagorno-Karabakh. He praised the peaceful protests in Armenia in recent months, calling the demonstrations “a powerful and inspiring example of citizens making their voices heard.” Armenia experienced a political crisis after ex-President Serzh Sargsyan was nominated as country’s prime minister. The situation led to massive protests led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which finally resulted in Sargsyan's resignation on April 23, followed by Pashinyan's election as the Armenian prime minister on May 8. Following Pashinyan’s election, the formerly ruling Republican Party of Armenia, which still has the majority of seats in the parliament, declared itself an opposition party.
Author: Rose Khoyetsian
Yerevan SWAT teams apprehend armed entourage of former official
Category
Society
SWAT teams of the organized crime unit of Yerevan police have carried out a special operation based on intelligence reports suggesting that a former official, Hovhannes Hovsepyan, and his entourage are keeping firearms and ammunition in their vehicles.
Police said the special operation was carried out around midnight June 18 in a street in Yerevan.
An assault rifle and a handgun have been found in the vehicle. Police are currently checking the possession permit. Two vehicles of the entourage had false license plates, and were illegally equipped with sirens and police lights, and radio contact devices.
Police are investigating the incident.
Although police failed to mention other information about the “Hovhannes Hovsepyan”, the name rings a bell. Hovhannes Hovsepyan served as head of the presidential oversight service from 2008 to 2016.
Azerbaijan breaches Artsakh ceasefire 250 times in one week
Categories
Artsakh
Official
Region
Azerbaijani forces have made around 250 individual ceasefire violations in the line of contact with Artsakh from June 10 to June 16, firing more than 2500 rounds at positions of Artsakh, the defense ministry of Artsakh said in a statement.
In addition to ceasefire violations, movement and build-up of Azerbaijani manpower and equipment has been seen during the week in different sections of the line of contact, the defense ministry said.
The ministry said that the defense army continues having full control of the situation in the frontline and takes all necessary situational actions.
Armenia may reduce water tariffs for the socially disadvantaged
PanArmenian, Armenia
– 18:13 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Water tariffs may be reduced for low-income families in Armenia.
The issue was discussed at a meeting of Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Artur Grigoryan and a Viola Group representative.
Prospective projects that the company may be implementing in the country were also high on the agenda.
According to a statement from the Energy Ministry, the sides expressed readiness to continue collaborating with each other in order to provide the population with quality services and improve the water supply.
Asbarez: Homenetmen Youth Forum to Focus on ‘Empowering the Future: Your Step for a Stronger Armenia’
‘Empowering the Future: Your Step for a Stronger Armenia’ to be held on June 23
LOS ANGELES—The Homenetmen Western U.S.A. has confirmed the attendance of three community leaders and activists for its Armenia-Diaspora relations panel, “Empowering the Future: Your Step For a Stronger Armenia,” as part of its centennial Youth Forum on June 23 at the Woodbury University Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium. Director of the Sosé and Allen’s Legacy Foundation Vaché Thomassian will be joined by Margarita Baghdasaryan, the volunteer public relations coordinator for the Hidden Road Initiative. Political consultant and former ANCA-Western Region Executive Director Elen Asatryan will moderate the panel.
As a New Armenia emerges in the wake of the Velvet Revolution, diaspora relations with the Homeland remain as important as ever. Community leaders and activists who lead organizations benefiting the Armenian Homeland will discuss the multitude of opportunities available to get involved and how each individual can take their step to help build a stronger Armenia. The speakers will also discuss their past challenges and success, and what the outcome of the Velvet Revolution means for Armenia-Diaspora relations moving forward.
“Youth involvement has always been a core value of our organization. With the hopeful positive changes coming from Armenia, it’s important for our youth to remain engaged and involved in the continued development of both the diaspora and the Homeland. We are confident that this panel will inspire and provide attendees with information to take their step for a stronger Armenia,” stated Homenetmen Western USA Board Chair Manuel Marselian. “We thank Woodbury University for sponsoring this important forum and for joining us in elevating our community’s youth,” he added.
Thomassian, Baghdasaryan, and Asatryan bring with them expertise in both diaspora and Homeland efforts, having engaged in a number of efforts and projects. With their background in diaspora-Homeland relations, grassroots organizing and nonprofit work, they will discuss their own organizational projects, the importance of individuals initiating their own involvement, and how youth can get started with volunteer work and contribute.
Thomassian launched The Sosé & Allen’s Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the gap between Armenia and the diaspora through programs that emphasize education, repatriation and volunteerism in the Homeland. The foundation was established in honor of Sosé Thomassian and Allen Yekikian, who repatriated to Armenia in 2013 after marrying the year before. The couple was en route to Tbilisi for a weekend trip when they were tragically killed in a car accident.
Projects of the Foundation include Proshyan Youth Center, the Zartonk Center for Civic Education, Memorial Forest, WithLove.am, and the Legacy Benefit Concert. The foundation also supports the Fuller Center for Armenia, Traversed: A Visual Journey Through Armenia, Luys-i-Luyso, and the AYF Youth Corps Travel Grant.
Thomassian’s service to the Armenian community in the diaspora and the Homeland dates back years, through his involvement with the Armenian Youth Federation, the Armenian National Committee of America, the ARF “Shant” Student Association and a number of Armenian Students Association. Currently, he serves as a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Western Region Central Committee. He is also a practicing attorney, with experience in development consulting and legal reform, and a background in international development and law.
Like Thomassian, Baghdasaryan has dedicated her efforts to serving the diaspora community and the Homeland. She currently serves on the executive board of the Hidden Road Initiative, a student-operated, charitable non-profit organization that seeks to provide educational opportunities to underserved students living in the remote villages of Armenia. With chapters in UCSB, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Glendale Community College, the organization aims to enhance the social capabilities of village children and to empower new generations of students by connecting them to volunteers from across the world through annual educational summer camps and by providing college scholarships. The Hidden Road Initiative also works to promote the economy and social equality of remote villages by coordinating various development projects, such as renovating schools, installing computer rooms and establishing kindergartens. As the volunteer public relations coordinator for the Hidden Road Initiative, Baghdasaryan currently works to develop PR strategies and campaigns to promote the work and mission of the organization.
After graduating from UCLA, Baghdasaryan also moved to Armenia for three months and interned for two prominent non-governmental organizations: the Helsinki Association of Human Rights and the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center. She then served as the Campaign Director for ANCA Western Region HyeVotes Initiative for the 2016 Elections and is currently the Community Outreach Director of the ANCA Glendale Chapter.
Asatryan is the founder and lead consultant of The Stark Group – a full-service political consulting and public relations firm. For the past 19 years, she has been leading successful campaigns, initiatives, and grassroots movements for local, state, federal offices and policies – many of which directly impacted the Armenian American community, Armenia, and Artsakh. She has also served and continues to serve on various committees and boards of local and regional organizations, including the City of Glendale Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission.
Prior to founding The Stark Group, for over 11 years, Elen served as the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America; first at its Glendale chapter for more than six years, and then the Western-Region offices, where she was responsible for strategy, policy development and implementation, communications, and day-to-day operations of the regional headquarters, along with its local ANCA chapters in the 19 Western U.S. States.
During her tenure, among many other policy and program developments, the organization led the front to ensure every state in the western USA recognized the Armenian Genocide; the State of California incorporated the Armenian Genocide in its high school curriculum and recognized the Republic of Artsakh; killed every anti-Armenian, pro-Turkish and pro-Azeri resolutions; registered over 50,000 Armenian-Americans to vote and turned out a record breaking number of voters through HyeVotes; local jurisdictions properly reflected the Armenian-American community and implemented policies serving their diverse needs.
In April, Asatryan was one of the lead organizers of the rallies throughout the city of Glendale in support of the regime change in Armenia. After helping mobilize the support movement among Los Angeles diasporans, she travelled to the Homeland to offer her help on the ground.
The Youth Forum is part of a series of events for Homenetmen Western Region’s centennial anniversary. Additional details on the forum and other panels are forthcoming.
The forum will be followed by an innovative, historical exhibition – open to the public on September 16th; an all-day street festival on the same day of the exhibition opening; the Navasartian Games and Festival from July 3th-7th; and a Victory Ball on July 1. Centennial activities will conclude with the official Centennial Celebration Programs scheduled for October 5th in Northern California and October 28th in Southern California at Glendale High School.
In the coming week, Homenetmen Western U.S.A. will also launch a website that will house the details for each of its centennial celebration and major events for the year in an effort to provide a space for community members to get active with all things Homenetmen. Community members are encouraged to check back with www.WeAre100.info. For up to the minute updates, follow Homenetmen on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HomenetmenUSAWR and Instagram at @Homenetmen_Western_USA.
The Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts, referred to as Homenetmen, is a 501 (C)3 non-profit organization founded in 1918, which has to date served over 800,000 youth in five continents. Homenetmen Western Region currently has 19 chapters. It is the largest Armenian athletic and scouting organization in the United States.
Armenian Refugees from Azerbaijan are Treated as Second-Class Citizens in Armenia
Armenian Refugees from Azerbaijan are Treated as Second-Class Citizens in Armenia
18:53,
By Oksana Musaelyan
After the law on citizenship of the Republic of
Armenia was adopted in 1995, the process of "voluntary" naturalization
of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan began.
They were granted citizenship, which gave them the
right to be elected to public office and to vote, as well as the right
to travel. Yet, 25 years later, according to the State Migration Service
of Armenia, about 20,000 refugees from Azerbaijan still retain refugee
status.
About 83,000 naturalized citizens are convinced that
naturalization was forced upon them. They consider themselves victims of
the trap set by the country's migration policy. They were hopeful that
acquiring citizenship would radically change their social and economic
situation. However, this was not the case. Both naturalized citizens and
those who have retained refugee status remain the poorest, most
marginalized and vulnerable segments of the population. For them, many
issues, including housing, education and employment, remain unresolved.
Naturalized citizens stand united in the belief that
the Armenian government deceived them. The government promised that they
would receive housing after acquiring citizenship. Also, the refugee
passport issued by Armenia limited the refugees’ rights to travel
outside Armenia. Naturalized citizens are convinced that they lost the
protection of the international community when they gave up their
refugee status. They also believe that the Armenian authorities are
enacting a silent policy of indifference. Naturalized citizens believe
that the authorities are waiting for them to either migrate or simply
pass away—the mortality rate is high among former refugees.
Nevertheless, Gagik Yeganyan, who heads the migration service, believes that such an excuse is a delusion.
“Many believe that refugee status gives them a
greater advantage than an Armenian passport because in the 1990s Armenia
received a large amount of humanitarian aid that was distributed
amongst vulnerable social groups, and refugees comprise some of these
groups. But after 2000, humanitarian aid ended. And yet, people still
have this mindset,” Yeganyan said.
About 700 refugee families received their own houses
under the housing security program, which operated from 2005 to 2008.
However, since 2009 no funding for housing has been allocated.
Nevertheless, for more than 1,000 refugee families, the housing problem
continues to be the most acute. These refugee families from Azerbaijan,
who were displaced due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict nearly 30 years
ago, continue to live in unfit housing conditions. They live in derelict
hotels, boarding schools, and hostels, often without their own
bathrooms. Commonly, four people live in a single11square-meterroom,
which serves as both a kitchen and bedroom. They are very often
subjected to the arbitrariness of the managers and new owners of these
buildings. They experience random water and power outages. Managers
sometimes guard building entrances to keep out “unwanted” visitors,
thereby creating a prison-like atmosphere.
Yeganyan said that the Armenian authorities would be
happy to help those with outstanding housing issues, but such “good
intentions” run contrary to international practice.
“There isn’t a single international document that
says that the country hosting refugees is obliged to provide them with
housing,” Yeganyan said.
The fact that they are not just refugees, but the
Armenians whose fate have been decided instead of them, when they were
forcibly dislocated as a result of the political issue raised in Armenia
and in Karabakh, proved to be absolutely not an important circumstance
in terms of the rule of the international law, which, as it turned out,
the Armenian authorities strictly comply.
In May 2011, the Armenian government held an
international forum with representatives of the diplomatic missions in
Armenia to come up with a way to solve the refugee housing problem. The
former UN High Commissioner for Refugees and now UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres participated. The forum aimed to encourage participants
to donate an $45 million in funding to solve the refugee housing issue.
In his opening remarks at the forum, former Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan noted that the refugee housing problem was the most important
among the social issues facing the country. Yet, despite that statement,
the funds were not allocated to the budget. Among the forum
participants, the embassy of Brazil was the sole contributor to the
fund, donating $50,000. The other forum participants ignored the appeal,
arguing that refugees are de jure citizens of the Republic of Armenia,
which means that the issues former refugees face are Armenia’s problem
to deal with.
During his meeting with Guterres in 2011, former
president Serzh Sargsyan finally stated the authorities' position on the
problems facing refugees by saying that “Yerevan has never politicized
the issue of refugees.” One can only wonder why Sargsyan so belittled
the consequences of the forced resettlement of the Armenian population.
In 2011, refugee issues were finally excluded from the agenda of
Armenia's foreign and domestic policy.
In 2007, during a press conference held on the
side-lines of the Ministerial Council of the OSCE conference in Madrid,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov said, "Do not believe
what you are told in Armenia … Armenians left Azerbaijan calmly,
selling all their property.”
Yerevan’s indifferent attitude toward the plight of
Armenian refugees is no different from the official Baku line on their
crimes of violent persecution and property committed against their own
ethnically Armenian citizens. Today, twice a year, the victims of the
Sumgait, Kirovabad and Baku pogroms are commemorated, but the issues
their survivors face in Armenia are ignored. Yerevan’s silence suggests a
cynical, illiterate and antihuman position towards Armenian refugees,
who are treated as second-class citizens. Their rights remain
unprotected under Armenian law.
Today, Armenian refugees find themselves on the
periphery of human existence. They are displaced Armenians whose fate
was decided for them, living unjustly in their own hell.
Photo: Jan Zychlinski
Links to new on Boris Johnson Being Pranked By Russians
Armenian News Note:
The following are links to various websites that reported the prank that was played on Boris Johnson, the FM of the United Kingdom.
British foreign secretary holds 18-minute phone call with hoax Armenian PM
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/24/c_137204134.htm
Boris Johnson discusses Salisbury nerve agent attack in 18-minute prank phone call
http://www.itv.com/news/2018-05-24/kremlin-blamed-for-hoax-call-to-boris-johnson/
Boris Johnson spent 18 minutes speaking to prank callers claiming to be the Armenian PM in a security breach blamed on Vladimir Putin's Kremlin
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5767151/Boris-Johnson-spent-18-minutes-speaking-prank-callers.html
Russian pranksters posing as Armenian PM fool UK's Johnson in phone call
https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2018/05/24/russian-pranksters-posing-as-armenian-pm-fool-uks-johnson-in-phone-call
Boris Johnson holds 18-minute phone call with hoax Armenian prime minister
https://www.manxradio.com/news/uk-news/boris-johnson-holds-18-minute-phone-call-with-hoax-armenian-prime-minister/
UK foreign office on Russian prank: Salisbury, Armenia are serious matters
https://news.am/eng/news/453036.html
Boris Johnson takes 18-minute call from prankster posing as Armenian PM
http://www.armradio.am/en/2018/05/24/boris-johnson-takes-18-minute-call-from-prankster-posing-as-armenian-pm/
Boris Johnson Pranked By Russians Posing As Armenian PM To Discuss Salisbury Poisoning
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/boris-johnson-pranked_uk_5b06b436e4b07c4ea105941a?guccounter=1
Boris Johnson tricked by Russian prank caller posing as the Armenian prime minister
http://uk.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-phone-call-russians-posing-as-armenian-prime-minister-2018-5
Boris Johnson pranked in excruciating 18-minute phone call by Russian blagger
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/russian-pranksters-hold-18-minute-12589433
Listen To Boris Johnson On Prank Phone Call With Man Pretending To Be Armenian Prime Minster
https://www.esquire.com/uk/latest-news/a20895677/boris-johnson-tricked-into-phone-call-armenian-prime-minster/
Boris Johnson tricked by Russian prankster posing as the Armenian prime minister
https://www.businessinsider.in/boris-johnson-tricked-by-russian-prankster-posing-as-the-armenian-prime-minister/articleshow/64306396.cms
Boris Johnson gets pranked by Russian callers pretending to be Armenian prime minister
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/05/24/boris-johnson-gets-pranked-by-russian-callers-pretending-to-be-armenian-prime-minister.html
Russian pranksters, one pretending to be leader of Armenia
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/russian-pranksters-one-pretending-leader-armenia-chat-phone-boris-johnson
UK's Boris Johnson fooled by Russian pranksters impersonating Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan
http://www.dw.com/en/uks-boris-johnson-fooled-by-russian-pranksters-impersonating-armenian-pm-nikol-pashinyan/a-43920446
UK slams Russian pranksters over Boris Johnson ‘Armenia’ call
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1309156/offbeat
Boris Johnson takes call from prankster posing as Armenia PM
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/boris-johnson-takes-call-from-prankster-posing-as-armenia-pm-1.3507098
Boris Johnson duped by pranksters pretending to be Armenian PM
https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-nikol-pashinyan-alexei-stolyarov-vladimir-kuznetsov-duped-by-pranksters-pretending-to-be-armenian-pm/
Recap: Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’ Visits Armenia
Condé Nast Traveler
This week's episode dives into the country's complex past, but also looks at its future.
Every Sunday, we live vicariously through Anthony Bourdain's globe-hopping, face-stuffing adventures on CNN's Parts Unknown. This week, he takes us to Armenia: a true "part unknown" for the TV host, as it's his first time in the country. With the accompaniment of Serj Tankian—lead singer of System of a Down, and an Armenian-American—Bourdain dives deep into Armenia's history. There are painful discussions (the Armenian genocide in 1915, when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman government; the diaspora; the earthquake in 1988), as well as optimistic glimpses into the country's future, bolstered by a booming IT industry and impressive after school programs. “Armenia remains a dream, a subject of stories; it is still, against all odds, a place,” Bourdain said during the show.
He's in Armenia—located between Turkey and Azerbaijan—which was formerly part of the USSR (1921-1991), and has a complex identity. Bourdain worked his way through the country, visiting Yerevan (the capital), Gyumri, the second largest city, the northern town of Dilijan, and even the contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (more on that later). Much of the episode discusses the genocide, as well as the diaspora that followed (Armenians had to flee the country for their own safety). “There are three million Armenians living in Armenia," Bourdain said. "There are another eight million around the world. Ever since the genocide, it’s been a long, existential struggle for survival.”
Because of this, the Armenia Bourdain experiences is identity driven, and there's a recurring theme of homecoming: people visiting the country for the first time since their ancestors were forced out, and moving back to invest in their homeland. Tankian exemplifies this when he describes his inaugural visit. "I remember, the first time I flew back to L.A. [from Armenia], the feeling I got getting out of the plane was, 'Why am I back here?'" Tankian says. "It’s this inescapable feeling of the land having some kind of pull on the blood.”
After sitting down with multiple Armenians, from tech educators to a grandmother who remembered the country's time as part of the USSR, Bourdain reflects on just how quickly Armenia is growing. "The connection, the collective yearning, and the flow of money, resources, and people from the Armenian diaspora back into the homeland are powerful and important—as you will see,' Bourdain says. "They are also vital to the nation’s survival. An astonishing amount of money is returning home from abroad—for schools, hospitals, and institutions—to help the country grow. And an ever larger number of overseas Armenians are returning, to see where they came from, to enjoy the food, and to reconnect—if they still can—with family, tradition, a way of life."
Lavash—and lots of it. The soft, tandoori-cooked flatbread made an appearance in four of his seven meals; wrapped and baked around trout (also an Armenian staple); toasted, stuffed with greens and onions; served as a side to accompany soup and various meats. Though this episode wasn't as cuisine-centric as some of Bourdain's other excursions, there were definitely still standout dishes. At Dolmama restaurant in Yerevan, he dined on braised lamb shank with rice pilaf and vegetable manti (baked dumplings with yogurt and garlic), saying "this is what my soul needed." At Mariam Movsisyan's (a friend of Tankian's) family home, ghapama—baked pumpkin stuffed with raisins, apricots, nuts, and rice—was on the menu, which her grandmother bolstered with sides of Armenian cheese, hummus, and (you guessed it) lavash. When the pumpkin came out of the oven, it was sliced to reveal the steaming, gooey rice mixture inside.
Meat also plays a large role in Armenian cuisine: as Bourdain notes, "this is a landlocked country in the middle of meat-on-a-stick zone.” We see him try oxtail soup, stewed liver, heart, and sheep's head as he chats with locals in Gyumri, while the episode closes out with a meal of khash—beef bone broth—in Dilijan. However, Bourdain's trip to Nagorno-Karabakh proved to be the meatiest of journeys—a feast of "Armenian barbecue," flavored with fennel and herbs.
This quotable moment can be attributed to Ruben Muradyan, a cybersecurity consultant Bourdain speaks with in Yerevan. “When you are being oppressed throughout your history, knowledge is something that can’t be taken from you," he says. "Anything might happen: The Soviet Union might collapse, there can be pogroms, there can be emigration. They can take your home, they can take your fortune, but knowledge and skill remain with you all the time.”
Later on in the episode, Bourdain decides to visit Nagorno-Karabakh, or the Republic of Artsakh, as ethnic Armenians refer to it. The territory, which is located within Azerbaijan's borders but has an ethnically Armenian majority, is heavily disputed and has been a point of contention for decades between the two countries, as previously reported by Traveler's Sebastian Modak. Bourdain flies in on a Soviet-era, M18 twin helicopter (in other words: very old and rickety), but his filmed time there appears to go pretty smoothly—at first. He shares a meal with a war veteran, journalist, and Azerbaijan-born Armenian in a location vaguely described as "Somewhere in the wilderness of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), near Jdrduz Canyon in Shushi." They discuss the violent conflicts that have broken out in the region, but end with a toast for a more peaceful future.
However, the Azerbaijani government requires that you obtain permission from the foreign ministry before visiting the region. According to the website for the Azerbaijani embassy in D.C., the policy for visiting territories is as follows: "Without the explicit consent of and a visa issued by the authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, a person, who made/makes a trip to the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, will not be granted a visa to the Republic of Azerbaijan and will be deported in case of his/her future entrance." Upon learning of Bourdain's unauthorized visit, they declared him a “persona non grata.” In other words? He's blacklisted, and banned from entering Azerbaijan—which, according to Eater, he found out about when he read the paper a few days after the trip.
Above Politics, Story of a ReLOVEution
El Vaquero: Glendale Community College
Thursday
Above Politics, Story of a ReLOVEution
by Marian Sahakyan
On March 31, he gathered his thoughts, his soon-to-be revolutionary comrades and embarked on a journey, many believed would fail.
For the next 14 days, the group would walk some 200 kilometers, covering villages and towns stretching between Gyumri and Yerevan, the two largest Armenian cities.
Nikol Pashinyan, 42, believed that people reserved the right to elect their own officials and leaders and for the past 20 years of his career as an investigative journalist and politician, he spoke up against the corrupt, authoritarian leading regime of Armenia.
The fact that Pashinyan was an oppositioner became clear at a very young age. His kindergarten teacher described him as an outspoken young man, who often turned other students against supervisors.
As his father, Vova Pashinyan contested, teenager Nikol organized anti-Soviet rallies in their small hometown of Ijevan, talking about his hopes of one day bringing Armenia to its own free state.
As a journalism student at Yerevan State University, then 20-year-old Pashinyan compiled screeds exploiting the corruption that rich politicians and businessmen often engaged in. As a result, he got kicked out of university in 1995, failing to receive his red diploma.
This did not stop the man's agenda, as he was setting himself up to change everything.
At war with fraud
Pashinyan's battle with the Republican Party of Armenia started many years ago, though took its highest peak in 2008, when Serzh Sargsyan ironically earned the people's vote in a fraudulent election, taking the title of president. The future was not looking too bright for the country, to say the least.
Pashinyan got involved with other opposition leaders and started to organize peaceful rallies against the newly elected president. All of this went downhill on March 1, 2008. The date became a dark day of history in the ex-Soviet country, as 10 people died in clashes between police forces and supporters of the defeated candidate.
Pashinyan's name became closely related to the tragic events of that day as authorities accused him of seeking to seize power, by the provocation of mass violence. Of course, these were accusations that were not true.
After hiding for months, the activist turned himself in, creating one of the most controversial cases of political imprisonment. From 2009-2011, he spent time in jail, next to criminals and killers, but was let out under a prisoner amnesty scheme.
He was elected into parliament the next year in 2012, and has been fighting against corruption since.
Transparency
As previous administrations spent country money on fancy vacations cars and homes, making it none of the people's business about where this money came from. Pashinyan came in and took this by storm and proved that people do have the right to know it all.
During the recent movement, which he called a 'Velvet Revolution' people donated money to be used for the moment. What Pashinyan was out to do next, left the people nothing short of shocked and surprised. Pashinyan and his team put a list together of all the donated money and where it was spent. They later published these on Facebook and other media outlets.
When he was announced prime minister of Armenia, after the month-long successful peaceful protest movement, Pashinyan got to work. He went live on Facebook and showed the people everything that his new office featured.
This had become a tradition since the early revolutionary days, or rather an expectation that the prime minister would go live on Facebook to talk, announce his plans, tell success stories and catch up with the people.
Tert.am/ Courtesy Photo
The message on Pashinyan's cap became a favorite among protesters, encouraging them to act with 'spirit.'
The people's man
Walking so many kilometers under the sun, he had shed his beer belly quite a bit, gotten a nice tan and a beard. The 42-year-old now rocks a new salt-and-pepper beard, which surprisingly made him more approachable. People even launched a campaign to encourage him to keep the beard, which he did during the past week of his time in office.
His signature camouflage t-shirt, baseball cap and rucksack became a symbol of revolution. His incredible sense of humor allowed for media to take a tour of his backpack. As he described, it had everything he would need. Things like medicine, his laptop and a powerbank phone charger, so he wouldn't miss a Facebook live with his people.
He walked alongside with the people and didn't put himself before anyone. Even as a prime minister, he often walks around the city, to make sure he has direct contact with the Armenian citizens.
He used social media to promote the movement and his plans to the younger generations. He told the people when he made a mistake, along with his ups and all the downs.
Pashinyan became the people's prime minister far before he could get the official title. His charismatic, funny and very simple character, shaped the new Armenian soul, an identity. That of a winner.
The future
As previous administrations came and went, leaving a large negative impact on the people of the country and its economy, Pashinyan is slowly restoring what was lost.
Inviting Daron Acemoglu, a world-renowned economist, to come up with strategies to not only save but to grow the economy.
On multiple occasions, he has addressed the Diasporans, encouraging them to start investing money in the country. He also promised that these people, who were forcibly pushed out of their country, due to economic, political and household instability, will come back home, to a new Armenia.
"I am serving the Republic of Armenia, and the people of Armenia," he said during his first speech as newly elected prime minister. "Your victory is not that I became prime minister, but the fact that you chose who did."
All eyes in the world are on Pashinyan, as he makes important changes to the far-too-corrupt system that he was handed. In the past week, he has gotten rid of old ministers and assigned young, innovative and smart individuals to these posts.
As we all sit in our homes and watch what goes on, we must realize that this is just the beginning of the big Armenian revolution and hope for the best for where it is headed.