By Tigran Grigoryan and Hayk Khanumyan On May 14, during a meeting in one of Yerevan’s districts, former president and leader of the Armenia Alliance, Robert Kocharyan, criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “attacks against national identity and the Church” and insulted the ruling party leader, saying: “Now tell me, you hambal (a derogatory Armenian term […]
#DemocracyWatch — On March 25, 2026, the National Assembly elected Vladimir Vardanyan as a judge of the Constitutional Court. Only members of the ruling “Civil Contract” faction participated in the vote. Vardanyan’s election sparked serious criticism in Armenia, as just days before being elected to the Constitutional Court, he was a member of the ruling party and […]
By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – In July 2025, when our think tank—the Regional Center for Democracy and Security—published a report on hate speech targeting refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, we identified several important patterns related to this phenomenon. The first was that the volume of hate speech against refugees increases during periods of domestic political tension. In […]
By Tigran Grigoryan On March 11, Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), submitted her resignation and was dismissed from her position. Media reports about the possible reasons for her resignation appeared immediately and were confirmed two days later by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan himself. During a briefing on March 13, Pashinyan confirmed […]
By Tigran Grigoryan #DemocracyWatch – Three months remain before Armenia’s parliamentary elections, and discussions in the country are increasingly dominated by the topic of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). Practically all efforts by Armenia’s international partners are now focused on assisting the country in countering hybrid threats stemming from external actors, predominantly Russia. Nearly […]
By Tigran Grigoryan On February 12, at the congress of the newly established Strong Armenia party, it was announced that the political force’s candidate for prime minister would be Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan. The main issue with this decision is that, under the Constitution of Armenia, only individuals who have been solely citizens of the […]
By Tigran Grigoryan On February 14, a criminal case was initiated against Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. The case centers on allegations of obstructing the enforcement of a court decision to temporarily reinstate Arman (Gevorg) Saroyan as Primate of the Massyatsotn (Masis) Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. On January 10, Catholicos Karekin II […]
By Tigran Grigoryan Renewed Developments in the Iranian Protest Case In a previous Democracy Watch report, we examined how protests by Iranian residents in Yerevan—and the Iranian ambassador’s criticism that Armenia was allowing “anti-Iranian forces” to mobilize—were followed by a ban on a planned march and the summoning of several protesters by Armenian law enforcement. […]
By Tigran Grigoryan A couple of months ago, I was invited to a working lunch with a foreign delegation, together with several other colleagues representing Armenia’s civil society and think tank community. As the discussion turned to Armenia’s domestic dynamics, I pointed out the anti-constitutional and anti-democratic nature of some of the domestic processes initiated […]
