Armen Ashotyan

Armen Ashotyan is a politician and the vice-chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), the party associated with former President Serzh Sargsyan that governed Armenia until the 2018 Velvet Revolution. A former Minister of Education and Science and longtime HHK figure, Ashotyan was arrested in July 2023 on charges of money laundering and corruption — charges that the Republican Party and international observers have characterized as politically motivated persecution of an opposition figure.

His case became emblematic of the broader pattern of selective prosecution of opposition politicians under the Pashinyan government. The arrest drew criticism from the Council of Europe and human rights organizations, who raised concerns about the fairness of the proceedings and the political context in which they occurred. Ashotyan has remained in custody through pretrial detention, making him one of the most prominent political prisoners in Armenia in the pre-2026 election period. See his guest page for his full episode history on Groong.

Groong has covered the Ashotyan case in the context of political prisoners in Armenia, the state of the rule of law under the Pashinyan government, and the prospects for a fair electoral environment ahead of the June 2026 parliamentary elections.

May 28, Rubio’s Armenia Deals, and the Cost of Strategic Drift | Ep 553, May 31, 2026 [EP553]

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 2, 2026 | Category: Armenia, Politics, Nagorno Karabakh, NATO, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Georgia | Series: wir, video

Groong Links:

Topics:

May 28 and Statehood
Parade as Campaign Theater
Rubio’s Armenia Agreements
Minerals Without Guarantees
TRIPP Risks in Syunik
Russia and Iran Pushback
Election Climate and Repression

Episode 553 | Recorded: June 1, 2026

#Armenia #May28 #MarcoRubio #TRIPP #Syunik #CriticalMinerals #ElectionFraud #RussiaArmenia

May 28, Rubio’s Armenia Deals, and the Cost of Strategic Drift | Ep 553, May 31, 2026 [EP553]

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 2, 2026 | Category: Armenia, Politics, Nagorno Karabakh, NATO, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Georgia

Groong Links:

Topics:

May 28 and Statehood
Parade as Campaign Theater
Rubio’s Armenia Agreements
Minerals Without Guarantees
TRIPP Risks in Syunik
Russia and Iran Pushback
Election Climate and Repression

Episode 553 | Recorded: June 1, 2026

#Armenia #May28 #MarcoRubio #TRIPP #Syunik #CriticalMinerals #ElectionFraud #RussiaArmenia

Transcript: May 28, Rubio’s Armenia Deals, and the Cost of Strategic Drift | Ep 553, May 31, 2026 [EP553]

Posted on Tuesday, Jun 2, 2026 | Category: Armenia, Politics, Nagorno Karabakh, NATO, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Iran, Georgia, Transcript

In this episode of Groong’s Week in Review, hosts Hovik and Asbed examine Armenia’s May 28 Independence Day parade as campaign theater, Marco Rubio’s push for critical minerals deals, and the strategic risks of TRIPP in Syunik. We discuss how Pashinyan’s military parade coincides with Armenian prisoners of war held hostage in Baku, the questionable financing of weapons through $8 billion in external debt, and the broader geopolitical pressures from Russia and Iran as Armenia heads into the 2026 Armenian Parliamentary Election.