Author: Vardan Badalian

                                        Thursday, 

Pashinian Aide Reassures Armenian Tycoons

        • Harry Tamrazian
        • Ruzanna Stepanian

ARMENIA -- A shop owner displays a T-shirt depicting the opposition lawmaker, 
Nikol Pashinian, in Yerevan, May 4, 2018

A close associate of Nikol Pashinian has insisted that wealthy businesspeople 
linked to the outgoing Armenian government will not risk losing their assets 
after the opposition leader’s widely anticipated appointment as the country’s 
prime minister.

Ararat Mirzoyan said that the new Armenian leadership will only strive to break 
up economic monopolies, boost competition and separate business from government.

“There is going to be no property redistribution because that would mean 
building the state from scratch, which would be fraught with very unpredictable 
consequences,” Mirzoyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “The 
fact is that there are people who own particular businesses. We are not going 
to wrest anything from these people. These people will continue [to own their 
assets.]”

“But the rules of the game will change,” he stressed in a weekend interview. 
“Nobody will have a monopoly in any sector.”

Mirzoyan specifically referred to wealthy individuals who have been linked to 
former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) and have long relied 
on government connections in doing business. “Everyone [in the HHK] can rest 
assured that nothing threatens their businesses and their, their family 
members’ and friends’ physical safety,” he said.

“Let the business owners serenely take care of their businesses. They will not 
need to hold parliament seats or any state positions in order to secure their 
businesses,” added Mirzoyan.


Armenia-Parliament deputy Ararat Mirzoyan is interviewed by RFE/RL in Yerevan, 
9 January, 2018.

Pashinian likewise reiterated on Monday that he will not wage “vendettas” 
against the HHK leadership or tycoons close it if the Armenian parliament 
elects him prime minister on Tuesday. “The page of political and economic 
persecutions in Armenia has been turned,” he told reporters.

“The new rules of the game will be the rule of law,” Pashinian said when asked 
about policy changes that will affect the business community. He would not say 
whether he will order high-profile inquiries into lucrative firms that have 
long been suspected of tax evasion.

Some Armenian tycoons have already publicly voiced strong support for 
Pashinian’s opposition movement. They include tobacco magnates Mikael Vartanian 
and his brother Karen. The Vartanian family is one of the richest in the 
country.

Another tycoon, Gagik Tsarukian, has struck an alliance Pashinian. Tsarukian’s 
Prosperous Armenia Party boasts the second largest faction in the parliament.

Pashinian made clear on Monday that there will be no “oligarchs” in his 
government. But he again shed no light on its likely composition.




Ter-Petrosian Warns Armenian Protest Movement

        • Emil Danielyan

Armenia -- Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian (C) with Nikol Pashinian (R) 
and Sasun Mikayelian at Liberty Square in Yerevan, 31 May, 2011.

In a stern warning that seems primarily addressed to his erstwhile ally Nikol 
Pashinian, former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has claimed that the ongoing 
political transition in Armenia may be marred by a violation of the country’s 
constitution.

Ter-Petrosian expressed serious concern over the weekend at the resignation of 
two lawmakers who broke ranks during the May 1 parliament vote on Pashinian’s 
bid to become prime minister.

One of them, Grigor Avalian, stepped down after refusing to join fellow 
deputies from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) in voting against 
the main organizer of massive street protests that have toppled Prime Minister 
Serzh Sarkisian. Avalian is reportedly linked to two wealthy businessmen 
brothers strongly supporting the protest movement.

The other lawmaker, Aghvan Vartanian, represented the Armenian Revolutionary 
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), Sarkisian’s former junior coalition partner which 
has also backed the protests. Unlike the six other Dashnaktsutyun deputies, he 
refused to vote for Pashinian’s premiership.

The Dashnaktsutyun leadership demanded that Vartanian give up his parliament 
seat before expelling him from the party’s ranks on Friday. Vartanian too 
decided to resign from the National Assembly.

Ter-Petrosian said that both lawmakers were forced to quit in breach of an 
article of the Armenian constitution which protects parliamentarians against 
any coercion by their parties or even voters. He said parliament speaker Ara 
Babloyan must urge both Avalian and Vartanian to withdraw their resignations.

“Failure to do that would mean that the constitution has been violated not only 
by the two parties but also all deputies of the National Assembly,” the 
ex-president said in written comments posted on Ilur.am.

“It is unacceptable for ‘New Armenia’ to begin its existence with an 
unconstitutional step,” Ter-Petrosian went on. “The leadership of the ongoing 
political movement and Nikol Pashinian personally must be first and foremost 
interested in [preventing] that.”

Speaker Babloyan said on Monday that both lawmakers have assured him that their 
resignations were the result of their personal “convictions,” rather than 
pressure. There has been no reaction yet from Pashinian and his allies.

Pashinian played a prominent role in Ter-Petrosian’s broad-based opposition 
movement that nearly brought the ex-president back to power in a disputed 
presidential election held in February 2008. He spent about two years in prison 
on dubious charges stemming from the March 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan.

Pashinian fell out with Ter-Petrosian after being released from prison in 2011. 
Accordingly, his relationship with Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress 
(HAK) opposition party has been strained.

As recently as in February this year, the HAK’s deputy chairman, Levon 
Zurabian, scoffed at Pashinian’s plans to try to stop then President Serzh 
Sarkisian from extending his decade-long rule. Zurabian said Pashinian and 
other leaders of the Yelk alliance themselves made it easier for Sarkisian to 
hold on to power when they declined to campaign against his controversial 
constitutional changes in 2015.

Even so, the HAK voiced support for the Pashinian-led movement as it gained 
momentum in mid-April. It demanded Pashinian’s immediate release when he was 
detained on April 22, the day before Sarkisian decided to resign as prime 
minister.





Jailed Oppositionist Freed

        • Anush Mkrtchian

Armenia - Opposition activist Andrias Ghukasian waves to supporters in a 
courtroom in Yerevan, 7 May 2018.

An Armenian opposition activist was released from custody on Monday pending a 
verdict in his trial on charges of aiding gunmen that seized a police station 
in Yerevan in 2016 to demand then President Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation.

The activist, Andrias Ghukasian, was one of the organizers of demonstrations 
held in support of the armed members of a fringe opposition group. The charges 
levelled against him stem from one of those rallies organized on July 29, 2016 
in Yerevan’s Sari Tagh neighborhood close to the besieged police base.

Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters after 
they refused to march back to the city center. Several organizers of the 
protest were arrested and charged with provoking “mass disturbances.” All of 
them except Ghukasian were subsequently released from custody.

The 47-year-old also stands accused of planning to have the protesters break 
through a police cordon, join the gunmen and thus prolong their standoff with 
security forces, which left three police officers dead. He denies the 
accusations as politically motivated.

Ghukasian offered to post bail shortly after he went on trial in August last 
year. The judge in the case turned down the request as “unfounded,” prompting 
strong criticism from the defendant and his lawyer.

Ghukasian was freed in the courtroom this time around in return for a written 
pledge not to leave Yerevan until the judge, Vartan Grigorian, hands down a 
verdict in the case. A trial prosecutor objected to his release.

The court order followed a dramatic change of the political situation in 
Armenia. Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian, who is widely expected to become 
Armenia’s prime minister on Tuesday, has repeatedly described Ghukasian as a 
political prisoner.




Armenian Parliament Majority Vows To Hand Over Power To Protest Leader

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian is about to address the National 
Assembly in Yerevan, 1 May 2018.

Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) again pledged on 
Monday to ensure that opposition leader Nikol Pashinian garners enough votes in 
Armenia’s parliament to become prime minister on Tuesday.

The 105-member National Assembly will meet again one week after its 
HHK-controlled majority blocked Pashinian’s bid to replace Sarkisian as the 
country’s leader. The move provoked a fresh wave of anti-government protests 
which brought the country to a standstill. The HHK promptly promised on May 2 
that it will help the protest leader get elected on May 8.

The HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, reaffirmed that pledge after a joint 
meeting of the party’s governing board and parliamentary faction which was 
chaired by Sarkisian.

“If I’m not mistaken 45 signatures [of parliamentarians] in support of 
Pashinian have been collected, and the Republican Party will ensure, with a 
sufficient number of votes, that we have a prime minister,” he told reporters. 
“This has been decided by the faction. We have urged our deputies to vote for 
[Pashinian.]”

Sharmazanov declined to say how many members of the HHK’s 57-strong faction 
will support Pashinian’s candidacy. “You’ll find out tomorrow,” he said.


ARMENIA -- Supporters of the opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinian hold a rally 
in the Republic square in Yerevan on Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Pashinian, whose massive protests forced Sarkisian to resign as prime minister 
on April 23, is expected to be backed on Tuesday by wealthy businessmen who 
were elected to the parliament on the HHK ticket. “I will vote for Nikol 
Pashinian tomorrow,” one of those tycoons, Samvel Aleksanian, reiterated on 
Monday.

Pashinian, 42, appeared confident about his coming to power when he appealed to 
supporters on Facebook earlier in the day.

“As a result of political consultations, I can say that there are now no 
indications that the prime minister may not be elected tomorrow,” Pashinian 
said in a video address. “I think that everything will go according to plan. 
Namely, the National Assembly will appoint the candidate chosen by the people 
as prime minister.”

Pashinian again told supporters to gather in Yerevan’s Republic Square and 
watch the parliament debate from big screens that will be placed there. He said 
he will address them right after the vote.

Pashinian has been nominated for the top executive post by the parliamentary 
factions of his Yelk alliance, businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s bloc and the 
Armenian Revolutionary Federation.




U.S. Rock Star Hails ‘Beautiful Revolution’ In Armenia

        • Karlen Aslanian

Armenia - Armenian-American rock musician Serj Tankian (L) and opposition 
leader Nikol Pashinian appear before thousands of people rallying in Republic 
Square in Yerevan, 7 May 2018.

Serj Tankian, a prominent Armenian-American rock musician, received a hero’s 
welcome late on Monday after arriving in Armenia to show support for the 
protest movement led by Nikol Pashinian.

Tankian saluted the “beautiful revolution” as he addressed thousands of mostly 
young people in Yerevan’s central Republic Square, the main venue of massive 
anti-government protests led by Pashinian. He said the movement has not only 
paved the way for democratic change in the country but also enhanced the 
international standing of the Armenian people.

“The world is watching you as a positive example,” Tankian said in a short 
speech. “You have achieved your goal by singing, dancing and smiling.”

“Just like you, I dreamed of this day for many years and am now proud of 
standing alongside you,” added the lead singer of the U.S. rock band System Of 
A Down (SOAD).

Pashinian, who greeted Tankian at the Zvartnots international airport and 
personally escorted him to Republic Square, also addressed the crowd, paying 
tribute to “our glorious compatriot.”

Tankian has been very supportive of his campaign that forced Prime Minister 
Serzh Sarkisian to resign on April 23. Pashinian is widely expected to succeed 
Sarkisian as premier on Tuesday.

“I am elated, I am … excited,” Tankian told reporters at Zvartnots. “I’m so 
happy to be here.”


Armenia - U.S. rock band System of a Down holds a first-ever concert in 
Yerevan, 23Apr2015.

Sarkisian’s resignation came exactly three years after SOAD’s first-ever 
concert in Armenia which took place at Republic Square and drew tens of 
thousands of spectators. Tankian, 50, used that show to call on the Armenian 
government to end “institutional injustice” in the country.

The world-famous musician likewise called for rule of law and a fight against 
corruption in Armenia during his previous trip to his ancestral homeland in 
2011. He also deplored serious fraud that was reported during an Armenian 
presidential election held in 2013.

Together with several other prominent Diaspora Armenians, Tankian monitored 
last year’s parliamentary elections that were won by Sarkisian’s Republican 
Party.




Press Review



(Saturday, May 5)

“Zhoghovurd” says that the authors of Armenia’s new constitution made the 
conduct of fresh parliamentary elections as difficult as possible in order to 
minimize “variants of regime change” and “perpetuate” the Republican Party’s 
hold on power. The paper complains about confusing and complicated 
constitutional provisions relating to the dissolution of the National Assembly.

“Zhamanak” says that while opposition leader Nikol Pashinian’s appointment as 
prime minister seems a forgone conclusion there are lingering worries about the 
possible obstruction of his work by not only the Republican Party (HHK) but 
also businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s alliance. The paper says that after becoming 
prime minister Pashinian will be regarded by Tsarukian as “not only an ally but 
also a rival.” “Political capitalization of the velvet revolution remains an 
open question,” it says. “The lack of it could become a problem at the next 
stage.”

“Aravot” says the widely held belief that the democratic revolution in Armenia 
has been a success is “too optimistic.” “It will be possible to speak of 
success only if we manage to build a better state and society,” editorializes 
the paper. “Thousands of people who have dealt with injustice in the last 25 
years or think that they have will protest outside the government building with 
their just or not so just demands.” It says that Armenians need to be “a little 
patient” and realize that genuine reform of state institutions will take some 
time. The paper also warns of the risk of Pashinian or other leaders of his 
movement becoming “the kind of figures that have been rejected by the 
revolution.” Armenia already went through such a disappointment in the early 
1990s, it says.

(Tatev Danielian)

Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

                                        Friday, April 13, 2018

Opposition Leader Returns To Yerevan For Anti-Sarkisian Rallies
April 13, 2018

        • Karlen Aslanian

Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian appeals to people during a 
demonstration in Yerevan, 13 April 2018.

Ending a two-week walking tour of Armenia’s northern and central regions, 
opposition leader Nikol Pashinian returned to Yerevan on Friday hours before 
the start of his rallies against former President Serzh Sarkisian’s continued 
hold on power.

Pashinian has walked around 200 kilometers through Gyumri, Vanadzor and other 
towns to try to drum up popular support for his and his Civil Contract party’s 
efforts to prevent Sarkisian from becoming prime minister.

He was joined by dozens of mostly young activists while entering Yerevan on 
foot. The small crowd then marched to the city center, urging people to attend 
a rally that was due to be held in Liberty Square later in the day.

“Come to Liberty Square and stand up for your power and for your homeland,” 
Pashinian shouted through a megaphone before chanting “Take a step, reject 
Serzh!”

Speaking to reporters, Pashinian reiterated that he and his supporters will be 
camped in Liberty Square at least until a parliament debate and vote on the 
next prime minister slated for Monday. He said they could also march to the 
parliament building on Monday.


Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian and his supporters march through 
Yerevan, 13 April 2018.

“It doesn’t matter how many people will come to Liberty Square,” said the 
42-year-old politician. “We will be taking actions anyway.”

But Pashinian also stressed: “The scale of our actions depends on the presence 
of citizens.”

Armenian officials have already warned Pashinian against blocking streets or 
entrances to government buildings, saying that such actions would be deemed 
illegal.

Pashinian dismissed these warnings. “Citizens of Armenia have a right to take 
peaceful actions of civil disobedience and they will exercise that right in 
full,” he said.

The leadership of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is expected to 
formally nominate Sarkisian for prime minister on Saturday. The HHK controls 
the majority of seats in the parliament.

Sarkisian completed his second and final presidential term on April 9. His 
successor, Armen Sarkissian, has largely ceremonial powers due to Armenia’s 
transition to a parliamentary system of government controversially engineered 
by the ex-president.

Serzh Sarkisian promised in 2014 that he will not seek to become prime minister 
if Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic. His political opponents now accuse 
him of reneging on that pledge. HHK figures claim that he never explicitly 
pledged to quit power and is better equipped to govern the country than anyone 
else.




Car Imports To Armenia Sharply Up In 2018
April 13, 2018

Armenia - Right-hand drive cars block a street in Yerevan during a protest held 
by their owners, 7Jan2018.

Imports of cars to Armenia nearly tripled in the first quarter of this year, 
the State Revenue Committee (SRC) said on Friday.

The SRC put the total number of imported personal cars, trucks and other 
vehicles at 13,768, up from 5,135 in the same period of 2017. Customs and 
value-added taxes collected from them rose just as strongly, to almost 8.9 
billion drams ($18.5 million), the national tax and customs service said in a 
statement.

Car imports to Armenia rose by almost 54 percent, to $247 million, last year 
after falling considerably in 2016, according to the National Statistical 
Service (NSS). NSS data also shows that the Armenian economy grew by 7.5 
percent in 2017. Government officials say the robust growth continued into the 
first three months of 2018.

The SRC statement quoted a senior customs official, Karen Gevorgian, as saying 
that the unusually sharp rise in first-quarter car imports primarily resulted 
from new and more transparent customs procedures introduced this year.

Another, possibly more important factor is a government ban on imports of 
right-hand drive cars which took effect on April 1.

The number of such cars, most of them cheap second-hand vehicles manufactured 
in Japan, has grown rapidly in recent years, even though Armenia uses 
right-hand traffic. Police officials say they account for a disproportionately 
large share of traffic accidents in the country.




Thousands Rally Against Armenian Leader
April 13, 2018

        • Karlen Aslanian

Armenia - Opposition supporters occupy France Square in Yerevan, 13 April 2018.

Thousands of people occupied a key street junction in the center of Yerevan 
late on Friday at the start of nonstop opposition demonstrations against former 
President Serzh Sarkisian’s apparent plans to continue to govern Armenia.

The main organizer of the protests, Civil Contract party leader Nikol 
Pashinian, said he will block more streets in the coming days in a bid to 
prevent Sarkisian from becoming prime minister.

“This is a campaign again Serzh Sarkisian’s third term in office and against 
the [ruling] HHK. This is a campaign against hopelessness and for dignity,” 
Pashinian declared in a fiery speech delivered at nearby Liberty Square earlier 
in the evening.

“We will blockade everything that is possible to blockade,” he said. “Our 
actions will be taken around the clock.”


Armenia - Opposition supporters rally in Yerevan's Liberty Square, 13 April 
2018.

Immediately after his hour-long speech the protesters marched to the 
intersection of three avenues forming Yerevan’s sprawling France Square and 
blocked traffic through it. Pashinian urged them to stay there through the 
night, saying that riot police will not attempt to disperse them in that case.

Pashinian told the crowd to occupy the square despite being warned by a senior 
police officer not to block streets. He at the same time urged his supporters 
to avoid any violent actions even if security forces move to break up the 
protests.

“We must rule out violence not only as action but also as counteraction,” he 
said.

There was little police presence in and around the occupied area. But large 
numbers of riot police were deployed several hundred meters away, on a street 
leading to Sarkisian’s private residence and the former presidential palace.

The HHK’s governing Council is expected to meet and formally nominate Sarkisian 
for prime minister on Saturday. Armenia’s HHK-controlled parliament is due to 
vote for the next premier on Monday.

In his speech, Pashinian said the protesters will march to the HHK headquarters 
and try to disrupt that meeting. He also called for a march to the parliament 
building that will be aimed at preventing lawmakers from appointing Sarkisian 
as prime minister.

“He must feel besieged in Yerevan,” Pashinian said of Sarkisian, who completed 
his second and final presidential term on Monday.

Pashinian voiced a damning indictment of Sarkisian’s presidency, alleging 
widespread corruption, economic mismanagement and a failure to meet security 
challenges facing Armenia. And he again accused Sarkisian of breaking his 2014 
pledge not to extend his rule if Armenia becomes a parliamentary republic.


Armenia - Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian addresses supporters in Yerevan's 
Liberty Square, 13 April 2018.

The ex-president’s allies claim that he never explicitly pledged not to become 
prime minister. They also say the HHK has a popular mandate to pick the next 
premier because it won the parliamentary elections held in April 2017.

Sarkisian offered similar arguments last month. He cited the increased risk of 
renewed fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and other security challenges facing the 
country.

Other major opposition groups have so far declined to join the anti-Sarkisian 
campaign spearheaded by Pashinian. They include the Bright Armenia and 
Hanrapetutyun parties that make up, together with Civil Contract, the Yelk 
alliance, the third largest force in the parliament. Bright Armenia and 
Hanrapetutyun leaders have been skeptical about the opposition’s ability to 
pull large crowds.

Pashinian reached out to these and other opposition forces when he addressed 
the demonstrators in Liberty Square. He urged them to put aside their 
differences and join his movement.




Press Review
April 13, 2018


“Zhoghovurd” reacts to Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian’s claim that Serzh 
Sarkisian was only one of several potential candidates for the post of prime 
minister discussed by the leadership of the ruling Republican Party (HHK). The 
paper notes that it contradicts statements made by other senior HHK figures. 
“If Davit Harutiunian did not coordinate this statement with Serzh Sarkisian, 
then what happened yesterday can be considered an act of sabotage,” it says. 
“After all, there have been growing manifestations of personality cult inside 
the HHK.”

“Zhamanak” says the key question now is not who will become Armenia’s new prime 
minister but “who will pay for reforms.” That question has for years remained 
unanswered, says the paper.

“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” tries to explain why Serzh Sarkisian is about to do 
something that even his predecessor Robert Kocharian did not manage to achieve: 
a third term in office. The paper says that throughout is rule Kocharian “put 
aside national interests” to maintain a tight grip on power and “accumulate 
personal wealth.” “Serzh Sarkisian, by contrast, went one step farther,” it 
says. “He realized that he cannot be guided only by his personal wishes and 
must also take into account the wishes of his entourage. And while Robert 
Kocharian was busy enjoying his life and earning billions [of dollars,] Serzh 
Sarkisian ‘refined’ the HHK inherited from [the late] Vazgen Sarkisian, brought 
together former mid-level members of the [Communist] party nomenklatura and 
young careerists devoid of any moral principles, and created his gang.”

“Hraparak” says that political tensions in Armenia are rising ahead of the 
April 17 election of the new prime minister. “As long as the protesting masses 
have not reached a dangerous level the authorities will refrain from violent 
actions, mindful of the fact that any violence could cause a much stronger 
backlash and spark a fire,” writes the paper. “For its part, the opposition is 
also behaving prudently and not yet taking drastic actions and calling for a 
violent struggle. One thing is clear: both sides have learned lessons from the 
past and will do everything to avoid a repeat of the March 1 [2008 violence.]”

(Tigran Avetisian)


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org