YEREVAN — At a briefing held on Wednesday, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Armenia Supreme Body Chairman and Armenia Alliance lawmaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan accused the Pashinyan government of consolidating an increasingly authoritarian system. He said authorities are prepared to “take any step, any unlawful action” in order to preserve their rule.
Saghatelyan referred to arrests carried out on Tuesday, including the detention of activist Gohar Ghumashyan and Verzhine Stepanyan, along with the continued detention of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and others, as part of what he described as an expanding pattern of political pressure.
According to opposition representatives and legal commentators, Ghumashyan was detained in connection with allegations involving the provision of assistance under the guise of charitable activity ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections.
Saghatelyan said the developments highlight the need for deeper coordination among opposition forces. He urged political groups to set aside electoral competition and instead cooperate on fundamental national priorities, reiterating his proposal for a joint opposition rally.
“This is a political struggle, and we have made it clear that opposition political forces are partners in today’s and tomorrow’s struggle, not targets. If the removal of this government depends on such cooperation, we are ready to cooperate.”
He added that despite electoral rivalry, the current political environment requires unified action and that the recent arrests necessitate a coordinated response from the opposition.
Saghatelyan’s remarks on the need for closer coordination among opposition forces come amid broader political debate within the opposition camp over institutional stability, public safety and political accountability.
The case was strongly criticized by members of the “Strong Armenia” Alliance, including Alik Alexanyan, who described the detention as politically motivated and argued that women and young mothers were being disproportionately targeted.
Legal expert Aram Vardevanyan said the detention took place near the Anti-Corruption Committee and questioned its proportionality, emphasizing that standard procedural practice typically takes into account personal circumstances such as motherhood when applying coercive measures.
Public demonstrations also took place in support of Ghumashyan, with citizens gathering near the Anti-Corruption Committee building. Protesters placed milk bottles at the site as a symbolic gesture of solidarity. It was reported that Ghumashyan is the mother of a 2-month-old child, and that her husband brought the infant to the location of her detention so she could breastfeed during the process.
Opposition representatives also criticized the detention of Verzhine Stepanyan, coordinator of the Vayk office of the “Strong Armenia” Alliance. According to the Investigative Committee, a public criminal prosecution was initiated against her on charges of obstructing or coercing participation in assemblies, or materially incentivizing participation or nonparticipation in public gatherings.
Authorities later confirmed that both Gohar Ghumashyan and Verzhine Stepanyan were released from detention. However, preventive judicial measures were applied in both cases. Accordingly, a noncustodial restrictive measure — administrative supervision or judicial control — has been imposed on both individuals pending further proceedings.
Further criticism came from the “I Have Honor” parliamentary faction. Lawmaker Tigran Abrahamyan condemned what he described as unlawful and disproportionate state actions, arguing that the use of arrests and coercive measures against political opponents, nursing mothers, minors and clergy reflects an increasingly indiscriminate exercise of power. He called on opposition forces to base their strategy on what he described as the authorities’ “anti-political, anti-legal and anti-moral toolkit.”
In line with Saghatelyan’s call for a coordinated opposition, former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said Armenia’s opposition has largely taken shape ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7.
Oskanian said opposition electoral lists have already been published and programs presented, arguing that they reflect a broadly shared agenda centered on peace, economic development, poverty reduction, restoration of justice, national revival and unity.
He said it was time to consolidate the concept of a “collective opposition” in public perception, describing the process not as an accumulation of individual political efforts, but as a unified political project with a common objective.
According to Oskanian, the emphasis should now shift from fragmentation to coordination. He expressed confidence that such a consolidated opposition would prevail in the upcoming elections but stressed that electoral victory alone would not be sufficient.
He said the opposition should set a higher political threshold, saying the goal should not merely be preventing the reelection of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s political force, but ensuring that the ruling party does not cross the parliamentary threshold required for representation.
Oskanian said only such an outcome would allow Armenia to close the chapter on the past eight years and relegate the current political period to history.
The upcoming election might be the last chance of preventing Pashinyan from becoming the Armenian version of Erdogan and Aliyev – a full dictator. However, since the entire state apparatus, including the electoral process, is under Pashinyan’s tight control, it is highly likely that the election will be rigged. The opposition needs to unite and make plans for that very real possibility, and that includes getting rid of Pashinyan through other means: mass protests, mass strikes, blockades and any other means to make Armenia ungovernable for him in order to chase him away from the country.
I hope the Opposition has taken notice of Magyar’s victory against Orban in Hungary.
Magyar won because he ran to the right of Orban.
Even tougher on immigrantion, free markets, economic growth and support for young couples to get married and start families.
Those are the policies that will win the election.
Another factor in Magyar’s victory was his crusade against corruption.
That should be embraced by the Opposition too.
Armenia needs to be completely purged of corruption.
The opposition needs to distribute the bribes more carefully, avoid discussions over the phone. The leaders of the opposition like Robert Kocharyan and Samvel Karapetyan may consider learning Armenian, do something with their appearance, like cosmetic surgery, to become more likeable and acquire personality. They both are Putin’s agents tasked with incorporating Armenia into the Russia/Belarus alliance, i.e. ending the sovereignty of Armenia. They have lived large part of their lives outside of Armenia and serve the interests of Russia, not Armenia. As we saw from the recent Putin-Pashinyan meeting, Putin wants to drag Armenia back into the Karabakh conflict, i.e. war, destruction, suffering and total annihilation of Armenia’s independence. The opposition is with him, not with the people of Armenia who want peace, normal relationship with the neighbors, and prosperity.
I never read so much nonsense all packed into a single paragraph. Very primitive and tribal. It is because of this kind of hollow mentality that the nation is in the sorry state that it is today. Everything is black or white and there is no grey area. According to your kinds, if you are pro opposition you are pro Russian and therefore you reject independence and want to be a province of Russia. If you are pro Pashinyan you welcome freedom and strive for independence implying you are patriotic. That is hilarious. Incompetent Pashinyan and his dysfunctional Civil Contract party are some of the most unpatriotic bunch we have ever had in our entire history. An embarrassment to our nation. All our victories against our filthy enemies took place during the rule of the leaders in the opposition party. They were the ones who defeated the enemy and brought them to their knees shattering all their Turkish myths. For thirty years they were the ones who kept the enemy at bay. During their reign Artsakh was free and acted as Armenia’s gatekeeper. The enemy forces were hundreds of kilometers away from the Armenian border but today they have camped inside the sovereign Armenian territory for several years already.
According to Pashinyan and his Civil Contract party, they came to power by way of a popular “velvet revolution” when in fact that was nothing but a power seizure by way of foreign western financed regime change. A revolution is supposed to bring positive change into the country but in reality the only beneficiaries of this fraudulent revolution has been our Turkish and pseudo-Turkish enemies on both sides of our borders because they got from loser Pashinyan everything they wanted and more. Flip-flopping traitor Pashinyan scarified an entire generation of Armenians in a pre planned and pre determined war when he was given the opportunity to stop the war knowing he is losing it because of his incompetence and because of terrorist Turkish direct military involvement contrary to his pre war assessment yet he rejected it. He helped expedite the ethnic-cleansing and total loss, for the time being, of Artsakh for the first time in Armenian history. Our enemies now have their eyes on Armenia itself and this fool is taking about his fake and manufactured “era of peace” to save his own skin.
You talk about the lack of fluency in the Armenian language of the opposition candidates, namely Kocharyan and Karapetyan, but have you ever paid close attention to Pashinyan’s vocabulary (barapashar-բառապաշար) full of adopted foreign words sounded out with Armenian accent? Words like “informatsia” (information-տեղեկատվություն), “aktsia” (action-շարժում-գործողություն), “pravakatsia” (provocation-սադրանք) and many more. I came list a thousand more. You talk about their physical appearances. Have you taken a good look at Pashinyan? He is 50 years of age (born in 1975) but he looks like a 75 year old man with a belly the size of a pregnant woman in her third trimester. You say the opposition leaders want to end Armenia’s sovereignty while Pashinyan is the one who has put Armenia’s sovereignty in jeopardy already by turning a blind-eye om enemy military presence inside Armenia’s sovereign borders and has ”lent” to a foreign country, Trump’s USA in this case, over 40 kilometers of sovereign Armenian territory in the south bordering Iran under US-brokered fraudulent peace initiative code-named TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity) which is nothing but a Turkish “Turan Corridor” which will essentially connect one enemy-occupied Armenian territory (artificial Azerbaijan) to another enemy-occupied Armenian territory (Nakhichevan) and beyond to Central Asia (Turkish TRUE homeland) from where native Armenians were ethnically-cleansed by 1979 giving rise to 1988 Armenian Artrsakh Liberation Movement. The last sign of multi-millennia Armenian existence there, the 1,300-year old Armenian cemetery in Julfa-Nakhichevan, desecrated and destroyed in 2005 and an enemy military camp constructed in its place to train more enemy terrorists.
One of the early president’s of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was once quoted as saying it is “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”. Perhaps you can learn something from it!
The talking points of a Pashinyan shill!
What “normal relationship” can you have with “neighbours” who want enslave you, treat you as dhimmis, kill you and humilliate you by violating your women?!
The Turks have done it once and they’ll do it again.
We are marking the centenary of tge Genocide after all.
The only way forward is to live in peace with the neighbors. This will a) end destruction and deaths of young citizens, b) will allow huge investments as evident from recent unprecedented investments from world-class high tech companies like NVIDIA and others, c) will result in growth and prosperity, d) will allow people live a life without fear of tomorrow… Yes, the genocide did happen. Did Russia prevent it? No. Despite the Russian victory at Sarikamish in January 1915, for which Enver accused the Armenians of siding with the Russians, they failed to protect us from the tragedy. Moreover, Lenin supplied Ataturk with arms and gold to support his campaign against the newly formed Republic of Armenia. Did Russia help us during the 2021 war? No. Did Russian peace kippers protect the Karabakh people as they were supposed to? No, they didn’t. They organized the mass deportation instead. Did Russia help us when Azeris invaded Armenia? No, they didn’t. How can you support the “opposition” who have one major goal, divert Armenia from the path to EU and make it a province of Russia? They say we need a guarantor like Russia. The goal of Russia is to restore the conflict situation, as Putin clearly articulated recently, to acquire the leverage to keep Armenia under Russia’s control, as it did for three decades. Come to the new reality and shed the mentality of war, animosity, and revenge. That path is a recipe for trouble.
Typlical Pashinyan shill.
The Turks and only the Turks are responsible for the Genocide.
You are geographically illiterate.
Like other Pashinyan shills, you are under the delusion that Armenia is in the heart of Europe, next to Austria.
No it is not!
Armenia forms Europe’s south east border with Asia.
Let me tell you about the “neighbours”.
Barbaric Turks to the East and West, barbaric Persians to the South, to the North are the Georgians who, though, like the Armenians, are White European Christians, will not hesitate to sell out the Armenians for a shekel. They occupy Javakhk.
Those are the neighbours that Pashinyan wants to trust!
As for Russia.
Russia’s commitment to Armenia extends only to mainland Armenia.
Even, in the 1990s, when Armenia had military superiority, Armenia refused to annex Artsakh and incorporate it within the mainland. How is that Russia’s fault?
How is Armenian incompetance Russia’s fault?
How is Armenian corruption Russia’s fault?
What, exactly, was Russia supposed to do when Pashinyan declared that Artsakh was part of Azerbaijan?
By making that declaration, Pashinyan made it clear that Artsakh was an internal Azerbaijani problem.
Artsakh was lost when Pashinyan declared that the Armenian Army would not fight for Artsakh.
It is the honour, duty and glory of the Armenians to die for Artsakh but when Armenians refuse to do so, why on Earth should anybody else?
Go on, wave your magic wand and move Armenia next to Austria.
You can’t?
Well, then live in the real world where Geography matters.
The only force that’s keeping the Turks out is the Russian garrison in Gyumri. The day they march out is the day the Turks march in.
Spurn Russia if you want, just don’t complain about living as the dhimmis of the Turks.
And get ready to pay World market prices for Armenia’s energy instead of getting it cheaply from Russia.
Live in the real world.
“The Turks and only the Turks are responsible for the Genocide.”
I didn’t say the Russia was responsible for the genocide. I said it failed to prevent it, which is inexcusable because the Armenians helped them win the key battle at Sarikamish, which prompted the three pashas to initiate the mass deportations and killings. “Russia the savior” did nothing to help us.
“…you are under the delusion that Armenia is in the heart of Europe, next to Austria. No it is not! Armenia forms Europe’s south east border with Asia.”
Thank you. I didn’t know that. Yet the EU is ready to make Armenia part of it. Looks like formal geography is not a primary criterion.
“Let me tell you about the “neighbours”. Barbaric Turks….Barbaric Persians…Georgians will not hesitate to sell out the Armenians…They occupy Javakhk.”
So, let’s declare all neighbors our enemies and conduct destructive wars to take back Artsakh, Javakhk, Kars, the Mount Ararat and beyond and thereby lose Armenia altogether. Or maybe you hope Russia will fight with those Armenia’s enemies and make Armenia great again? Russia had a chance to make the Treaty of Sevres reality in 1945 but showed no appetite for that.
“Russia’s commitment to Armenia extends only to mainland Armenia.”
Agreed. In September 2022 Azerbaijani forces struck at least 23 locations up to 40 kilometers deep within Armenia’s Syunik, Gegharkunik, and Vayots Dzor provinces. Russia failed to meet its responsibilities to repel the invader and even refused to issue a political declaration. This is the real face of “Russia the savior” you tend to trust so much.
“How is Armenian corruption Russia’s fault?”
A recent analysis conducted by the Freedom House and the Economist Intelligence Unit showed that Azerbaijan, along with the key regional countries Russia and Iran, are authoritarian, while Armenia emerged as the most democratic nation in the region. So, if someone is corrupted, that’s Russie, not Armenia.
“What, exactly, was Russia supposed to do when Pashinyan declared that Artsakh was part of Azerbaijan?”
As Pashinyan mentioned at his recent meeting with Putin, the latter had declared the same two times before Pashinyan did. Pashinyan did it in October 2022 when he faced the fact that Russia will not come to rescue even when the Turks are taking towns in Armenia proper. In return, Aliyev signed the agreement to recognize Armenia’s territorial integrity according to 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration. These events later led to the peace document signed by both of them in Washington in August 2025. Peace and only peace can promote growth and prosperity, not war and destruction. Putin pretended to mediate peace for a long time but it didn’t happen simply because that was fake, a deceiving game. Russia has never done anything in Armenia’s interests. As Lukashenko once said to Pashinyan “Are you expecting we will fight with the Turks for you?” No, they will never do that. Period.
The duty of the Russian peace kippers was to protect the Armenian population of Artsakh. The Russian soldiers were not able to prevent the famine imposed by a bunch of punks. Then they hid during the Azeri military operation and then organized the exodus. Following that, they were kicked out of Azerbaijan themselves. These are the Russians you seem to admire so much.
“It is the honour, duty and glory of the Armenians to die for Artsakh.”
Has any of your relatives fought for Artsakh? It’s easy to send the others to fight and die while sitting on a couch at the computer. What are you going to say if thousands die in the war and yet lose the war? We can’t afford losing young men and women who could otherwise form families and promote the prosperity of the motherland. We will fight only when attacked. Going beyond the internationally recognized territories of Armenia is a dangerous and irresponsible adventure.
“get ready to pay World market prices for Armenia’s energy instead of getting it cheaply from Russia.”
Russia’s policy is to keep others under its control by offering gas and petroleum at lower prices. This is attractive especially for low income countries. Armenia sees its future as a developed nation that can fit within the standard world economy. Besides, fossil fuel will one day become history. Technology is the key here. Recent increasing interest by world leading high tech companies in investing in Armenia indicates Armenia is on the right path of shifting from the shaky “cheap” feudal mentality linked to Russia to a more progressive, democratic, and prosperous future.
Armenia never recognised nor annexed Arktash in part due to pressure from Russia but also didn’t want to attract ire from the UN and possibly risk a renewal of fighting even in the late 1990s when still had the advantage was recovering from the conflict. Only confused people who constantly claim geography imply as though Armenia is in central Europe to then debunk their own absurd suggestion, indeed is questionable if the south Caucasia is actually part of Europe although. Those claiming it was an honour to fight and die for Arktash should explain what they were doing at the time. Russia has always since 1922 considered Arktash as part of Azerbaijan but has been good at stringing along Armenia and giving false hopes on the issue. Most Armenians have a comfortable relationship with Iran based on the long standing cordiality between Armenian and Persian peoples. Georgia can’t be counted on although the state and popular relationship with the Armenian community there is leagues better than Turkey and Azerbaijan and it’s primary issue is the Russian supported Ossetia and Abkhazia outside of its authority. It’s Also worth noting that Russia angered Azerbaijan when it implied that Arktash was disputed despite it’s own constant position and Armenia officially abandoning claims. Also it’s deemed unlikely to plan an attack on Armenia like Iran. The genocide was linked to 5th column claims by Turkey and Russia gave false hopes of liberation and was unwilling it had plans to establish a Cossack realm in kars and unable due to WW1 preoccupations in combat against the central powers to prevent the mass murders and deportations and forced conversions. Would Armenians have rebelled if Russia hadn’t given them hopes but only to find as usual it doesn’t tend to deliver? Whilst the Turks have blood on their hands the Russians were culpable in incitement to rebel and leaving Armenians to face the retribution without support. After all whilst fraught and strained with repression Armenians had coexisted for hundreds of years with the Turks and occasionally found common cause such as against Timur in the 15th century yet the status quo would violently breakdown when Russian presence increased thus why this happened needs to be addressed. With sanctions and Ukrainian attacks it’s going to become harder for Russia to supply hydrocarbons to Armenia or the rest of the world for that matter at favourable prices which has it’s own dependency resentment on Russia part as it’s making a loss or insufficient profit in the venture thus feels ripped off.
The Turks applied to join the EU in the 1980s, 46 years later, they’re still waiting.
There is no chance, none whatsoever, of Armenia ever being a member of the EU.
Yes, my Armenian wife lost two brothers in Artsakh so I do know what Death is.
Turkey has been unsuccessful due to its poor democracy and civic rights and questions about how European it is as most of that country is in Asia and unofficially because it’s a Muslim country although secular and the demographic changes in Europe render such considerations ironic to say the least.
Armenia would be unlikely to join the EU alone but in conjunction with Georgia would be plausible, it would be presumptuous to say that it wouldn’t so emphatically.
Unfortunate about the deaths in conflict of your brothers in law, still the question of what were you doing in the conflict is valid given ones claims of dying for Arktash being an honour otherwise there’s a risk of being like the Slava Ukraine brigade cheering on the conflict far from the fray.
Whilst the pro Russian Armenians are almost always anti Pashinyan although Russia supported his signing of the 2020 ceasefire and re-election in 2021 , there’s a faction who distrusts Russia regarding it as a flip flop ally and stringing Armenia along and cynical treatment capitalising on Armenia vulnerability along with seeking to isolate Armenia from other countries sympathetic to it so it Russia or else situation.
As with anywhere in the world there’s the tendency to view a previous victory as a birthright. This is a very rash assumption. Claims of the recent loss being due to the enemies support by it’s allies are missing the point, wars aren’t “fair” . Indeed Russia admired by some posters here would be rather more successful in Ukraine IF it wasn’t for the support Ukraine is recieving from NATO countries. Contrast with the ease Russia had against a disorganised Ukraine in 2014… Unfortunately for Armenia as the years passed since 1994 the balance of power shifted and active conflict resuming when Azerbaijan was quite confident that it now had the advantage and would reveal that Armenia had been increasingly on borrowed time from it’s previous success.
America and western interests run Armenia. Pashoglu and his cronies are paid puppets. Very well paid. Armenia needs a revolution or else it will disappear as a nation and at best become a russian oblast and at worst a turkish vilayet. I dont think the elections will make a difference. The Americans and pashoglu will make sure the election is in their favor