By Harut Sassounian
Just when we thought that the situation in Armenia could not get any worse, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has devised new ways to destroy the country.
During Pashinyan’s collapsing tenure, we lost Artsakh, after 4,000 Armenian soldiers were killed and many more wounded in the 2020 war. The remaining 130,000 Artsakh Armenians were forced to abandon their millennia-old homeland in 2023. The Prime Minister is urging Armenians to forget their glorious past and abandon their future dreams. Furthermore, he no longer wants to hear about the Armenian Genocide, Mt. Ararat, or Western Armenia.
Someone posted on his Facebook page the following bleak message: Armenia’s police are at Etchmiadzin. Two influential Armenian billionaires are jailed in Baku and Yerevan. Two archbishops are arrested and imprisoned in Armenia. The President is silent. The people are in a coma. The enemy is sharpening his teeth. The country is defenseless. The Diaspora has given up.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is busy posting obscene messages about Catholicos Karekin II and other high-ranking clergymen, instead of ensuring Armenia’s existence. The judges are obeying his political orders, and the parliamentary majority is blindly carrying out his wishes. In other words, we have a one-man-rule — a dictatorship.
All the Primates and Archbishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church from Armenia and the Diaspora issued a joint statement last Friday, expressing their “deep outrage at the reprehensible campaign instigated by the Republic of Armenia authorities and the Prime Minister himself against the Armenian Church, the Catholicos of All Armenians, and high-ranking clergy, which is accompanied by the spread of hatred and hostility towards the clergy, as well as personal insults and disrespectful expressions.” The church leaders condemned “the invasion of Holy Etchmiadzin by state security agents to arrest Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, threatening to use force against the clergy and worshippers.” They also criticized the jailing of benefactor Samvel Karapetyan and Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, urging their immediate release. The Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Arayik Harutunyan, had sent a text message to all the Primates and Archbishops in a failed attempt to dissuade them from issuing a statement in support of the Catholicos.
I believe the Prime Minister has gone too far this time. Before it’s too late, the people in Armenia will need to rise up to put a stop to his regime. Last week, despite the government’s repressive measures, thousands of Armenians marched in the streets of Yerevan to protest the arrest and jailing of prominent businessman Karapetyan, well-known for his many philanthropic activities. Unwittingly, Pashinyan has created a credible new opponent who can take the lead in toppling his regime.
Karapetyan’s only ‘sin’ was defending the Catholicos and the Armenian Church against Pashinyan’s unwarranted attacks. A subservient judge sentenced this innocent man to a preliminary two months in prison.
Furthermore, Pashinyan ordered the immediate confiscation of Karapetyan’s company, the Electric Networks of Armenia, in which he had invested hundreds of millions of dollars. Karapetyan’s Yerevan headquarters were raided by police, and two of his key executives were arrested under false pretenses. The cars of over 40 of his supporters were confiscated last month and not returned. Meanwhile, Karapetyan issued a statement from prison: “Nikol Pashinyan and his government have no place in Armenia and should have no ties to the Armenian people’s future.”
The Prime Minister’s illegal actions have severe consequences for Armenia. Pashinyan’s vengeful decision will likely result in Karapetyan taking the Republic of Armenia to international arbitration, potentially winning over a billion dollars in punitive damages. It is regrettable that Armenian taxpayers may ultimately pay this hefty sum.After Pashinyan ordered Karapetyan’s jailing, government loyalists in parliament immediately passed a law nationalizing his electrical company and made deeply offensive statements to please their slave-master. The expropriation of a private company will damage Armenia’s reputation with international financial institutions. It is the first company nationalized since independence 34 years ago and will likely lead to repeated disruptions of electrical service, as the Armenian government lacks the expertise to manage such an enterprise. These interruptions will only increase public discontent.
Once the international community and the Armenian Diaspora learn that Yerevan is nationalizing private businesses, foreign investors will be unwilling to commit funds to Armenia.
To make matters worse, two prominent members of the Prime Minister’s political party defamed Karapetyan in parliamentary remarks. He filed lawsuits against Arsen Torosyan and Hayk Konjoryan, demanding they retract their defamatory statements, issue public apologies, and each pay nine million drams (approx. $23,400) in compensation. Torosyan had falsely accused Karapetyan of following Russian KGB’s orders, while Konjoryan had claimed Karapetyan “robbed the Armenian people and the Republic of Armenia for decades.”After prominent Armenians from various countries issued a joint statement condemning the Pashinyan regime, Torosyan lashed out, accusing them of not knowing what’s happening in Armenia. I assure Torosyan that the Diaspora follows closely the tragic sell-out of the homeland with profound grief. They are not blinded by Pashinyan’s propaganda. Torosyan is using the regime’s favorite tactic: pitting the Diaspora against Armenia, current leaders against former, and Artsakh Armenians vs. locals in Armenia.
