Category: Politics

Sassounian says Pashinyan told parliament he consulted nobody and made his own decision, calling it one-man rule.

Sassounian describes Pashinyan posting a toothbrush on Facebook, then writing his UN General Assembly speech mid-flight to New York.

Sassounian calls it shameful that the head of the first Christian nation is taking the Catholicos to court, with prison a possible outcome.

Sassounian says Trump offered to call Aliyev to free Armenian prisoners in Baku, and Pashinyan never took him up on it.

Sassounian recounts reconciling with Levon Ter-Petrosyan after years of tension, with a two-word answer, to work together for Armenia.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Harut Sassounian about Armenia’s identity crisis amid escalating conflict between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. We discuss Catholicos Garegin II’s statements at the May 2025 World Council of Churches conference in Bern, Pashinyan’s public attacks on senior clergy, the constitutional role of the Armenian Church in national identity, and the deeper geopolitical questions surrounding Armenia-Diaspora relations following the June 2026 Armenian parliamentary elections.

The Prime Minister’s office published a 74 page report describing a Church crisis and laying out a roadmap to remove the Catholicos.

On the sixth anniversary of the 2020 war, thousands streamed to Yerablur while state TV aired a pop concert and no Civil Contract official appeared.

Pashinyan fell short of 50 percent, then the annulment of three polling stations stripped Prosperous Armenia of five mandates and handed Civil Contract a three-fifths majority.

In this week’s Groong Week in Review, Hovik and Asbed mark the sixth anniversary of the 44-Day War and examine Armenia’s deepening crisis over historical memory and national identity. We discuss the Armenian government’s controversial response to September 27 commemorations, escalating tension between the state and the Armenian Church, international concern over election integrity, and Armenia’s isolated position as Azerbaijan demolishes Artsakh’s Armenian cultural heritage while Turkey advances regional integration plans.

Aghajanian says Russia’s 102nd base in Gyumri still matters to Armenia, keeping Turkey at bay, and warns removing it would leave the country totally alone.

Aghajanian argues the September 2022 Jermuk fighting was orchestrated by Western actors, Azerbaijan, and Pashinyan to draw Russia into a second front.

Aghajanian says Armenia has no judicial system left, with 75% of judges appointed by the ruling group and orders coming from above.

Aghajanian says Armenian soldiers fought back at Jermuk against government commands, pushing Azerbaijan back from a strategic corridor toward Nakhijevan.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Dziunik Aghajanian about shifting geopolitical pressures on Armenia following Russia’s September 2026 parliamentary elections. We discuss Putin’s strengthened domestic position, the Armenia-Russia confrontation over the 102nd base, asset confiscation and anti-corruption efforts targeting Russian interests, and how Middle East escalation and the Iran War reshape Armenia’s strategic environment amid ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process tensions.

Arthur Khachatryan warns that Pashinyan’s threats and talk of mob justice signal Armenia is racing toward dictatorship.

Khachatryan compares Civil Contract’s rhetoric about eradicating the ARF to a 1915 Turkish line about keeping one Armenian in a museum.

Khachatryan details how confiscated hotels and villas are resold at deep discounts to Pashinyan-linked buyers while families get nothing.

Hovik breaks down a fivefold hike in Armenian citizenship fees and a tenfold increase to renounce, and argues it is deliberate diaspora policy.

Hovik recounts how Goris mayor Arush Arushanyan, jailed for protesting Pashinyan, saw his case dropped a week after allying with Civil Contract.

Hovik demands the names of those killed in the 2020 war and after, arguing the government’s silence hides a story of betrayal.

In this week’s Groong podcast episode, Hovik and Asbed reflect on Armenia’s 35th independence anniversary amid ongoing regional tensions and unresolved conflicts. We discuss the state of Armenian statehood three years after the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, Armenian prisoners of war still held in Baku, rising citizenship costs, government opacity over war casualties, and deepening Turkey-Azerbaijan strategic coordination.

Warwick Powell on the poison pill clauses in U.S. tech deals that lock smaller states into a single ecosystem, using Malaysia as a case with lessons for Armenia.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Hrant Mikaelian about chip diplomacy, the TRIPP framework, and Armenia’s structural economic vulnerabilities. We discuss how the U.S. fast-tracked advanced AI exports to secure the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process agreement, the massive energy demands of the planned Firebird data center, Armenia’s deepening education crisis, and the risks of energy dependence as the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant approaches shutdown.

A Wall Street Journal report says the U.S. dangled NVIDIA AI chips to get Armenia to sign the TRIPP corridor. The hosts weigh revocable chips against a 99-year deal.

Artsakh analyst Alen Ghevondyan was jailed over Facebook posts, then freed months later as a court dismissed the case. The hosts call it a repeating pattern.

As Pashinyan attends a Paris space summit, Hovik notes France helped build and launch Azerbaijan’s satellites, later used against Armenia in war.

EU Special Representative Magdalena Grono called the Gandzasar dispute a matter of “deeply diverging views and narratives.” The hosts call it false equivalence.

In this Groong Week in Review episode, Hovik and Asbed examine the fourth anniversary of the September 2022 border war, Azerbaijan’s ongoing occupation of Armenian territory, and Pashinyan’s political trajectory toward recognizing Artsakh’s loss. We discuss Hajiyev’s inflammatory rhetoric, Armenia’s muted diplomatic response, TRIPP and semiconductor sovereignty, Pashinyan’s attendance at a Paris space summit, Russian financial flows through Armenia, and Russia-Iran coordination in the South Caucasus.

Non-combat deaths in Armenia’s army are rising sharply since the declared peace. The hosts detail a case of conscripts run over while forced to jog at night.

Pashinyan reportedly explains rising army deaths by saying that with no enemy shooting, soldiers grow lax and fight over who sleeps on watch.

The hosts read Arman Grigoryan’s 2012 words calling concessions to Azerbaijan a betrayal, then reveal he was born in Martuni, Artsakh.

Suren Sargsyan warns that Pashinyan’s government has developed no contingency plans if the U.S.-backed TRIPP project fails, leaving the country dangerously exposed.

Suren Sargsyan analyzes why both Putin and Pashinyan publicly defer the decision on the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, avoiding responsibility while maintaining the status quo.

Armenia imports $18-20M in petroleum from Azerbaijan but exports only $960 worth of goods. Hovik reveals the fuel is actually Russian energy white-labeled through Baku, exposing the false ‘peace’ narrative.

School administrators forced underage students to attend Pashinyan campaign rallies during elections. The government declined to prosecute, issuing only administrative reprimands, a stark contrast to treatment of opposition figures.

Putin congratulates imprisoned Robert Kocharyan on his birthday while ignoring Pashinyan’s reelection. The hosts decode the geopolitical message behind this selective honor.

Tigranashen, a small village controlling roads between North and South Armenia, is the next territorial concession demanded by Azerbaijan as the price of ‘peace.’ Its strategic value exposes the coercive nature of the settlement.

Pashinyan intensifies crackdown against opposition figures post-election. Tsarukyan, Kocharyan, and Karapetyan face arrest and asset seizures as regime consolidates power.

Pashinyan frames the Third Republic as failed and proposes a Fourth Republic based on rejecting Artsakh claims and Armenian diaspora ties. Expert analysis reveals this mirrors Atatürk’s identity transformation strategy.

Pashinyan explicitly stated Armenia comprises 29,743 sq km, excluding Tigranashen. Expert analyzes this strategic territory’s importance and why Azerbaijan uses Jermuk occupation as leverage.

Pashinyan offers TRIPP stakes to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to isolate Russia while EU seeks Central Asian access. Expert analyzes broader European strategy in Central Asia and China’s role.

Pashinyan intensifies attacks on Armenian Apostolic Church after Catholicos speaks about Artsakh rights. Expert analysis reveals this targets the church’s diaspora ties and identity independence.

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Arthur G. Martirosyan about Armenia’s post-election political crisis and Pashinyan’s governance agenda. We discuss the arrest of opposition leaders including Robert Kocharyan, attacks on the Armenian Church, border concessions including Tigranashen, the TRIPP corridor, and how the Established Opposition is strategizing under state repression in the Fourth Republic.

Ambassador explains why Armenia’s nuclear power plant is not just an energy asset but a critical strategic deterrent against Turkish and Azerbaijani aggression, and why closing it would be catastrophic.