Modern Armenia

Asbed on the Real Cost: Generations of Armenian Debt [EP574]

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 4, 2026 | Category: Economy, Armenia, Politics

Asbed Bedrossian warns that Pashinyan plans to finance the railway buyout through new European loans, burdening future generations of Armenians with debt repayment.

Hovik on Tigranashen Handover: Clear as Day [EP574]

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 4, 2026 | Category: Politics, Armenia, Geopolitics

Hovik Manucharyan argues that Pashinyan has already agreed to hand over Tigranashen and is executing a piecemeal territorial surrender strategy, bypassing Soviet-era border protocols.

Railway Dispute: EU Pressure to Kick Out Russia [EP574]

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 4, 2026 | Category: Geopolitics, Economy, Armenia, Russia, European Union

Hovik reveals that Pashinyan’s sudden claims of Russian railway mismanagement appeared only after unnamed Western countries pressured him to remove Russian control, signaling geopolitical rather than operational motives.

Rubinyan Dodges Question on Tigranashen Surrender [EP574]

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 4, 2026 | Category: Politics, Armenia, Geopolitics

New parliament speaker Ruben Rubinyan evades direct questions about whether Tigranashen, a strategically critical Armenian territory, falls within the government’s stated 29,743 square kilometers.

Pietro Shakarian - Memory Under Siege: From Stalin to Pashinyan | Ep 573, Aug 3, 2026 [EP573]

Posted on Monday, Aug 3, 2026 | Category: Armenia, Politics, History | Series: cog, video

Groong Links:

Guest(s):

Pietro Shakarian

Topics:

Erasing memory across Yerevan
Great Purge in Soviet Armenia
Khanjyan’s assassination and Beria
Repression of Armenia’s national institutions
Remembering Stalinist repression
Historical parallels with modern Armenia
Attacks on memory and Church
Opposition strategy after the election

Episode 573 | Recorded: July 31, 2026

#Armenia #GreatPurge #AghasiKhanjyan #PietroShakarian #Artsakh #ArmenianChurch #PoliticalRepression #MemoryUnderSiege #Authoritarianism #SovietArmenia

Pietro Shakarian - Memory Under Siege: From Stalin to Pashinyan | Ep 573, Aug 3, 2026 [EP573]

Posted on Monday, Aug 3, 2026 | Category: Armenia, Politics, History

Groong Links:

Guest(s):

Pietro Shakarian

Topics:

Erasing memory across Yerevan
Great Purge in Soviet Armenia
Khanjyan’s assassination and Beria
Repression of Armenia’s national institutions
Remembering Stalinist repression
Historical parallels with modern Armenia
Attacks on memory and Church
Opposition strategy after the election

Episode 573 | Recorded: July 31, 2026

#Armenia #GreatPurge #AghasiKhanjyan #PietroShakarian #Artsakh #ArmenianChurch #PoliticalRepression #MemoryUnderSiege #Authoritarianism #SovietArmenia

The Artsakh Movement is the Foundation of Armenia's Independence [EP573]

Posted on Monday, Aug 3, 2026 | Category: History, Politics, Artsakh

Historian Pietro Shakarian explains why Pashinyan’s rejection of the Artsakh Movement is an attack on the very foundations of Armenia’s independence and statehood.

Transcript: Pietro Shakarian - Memory Under Siege: From Stalin to Pashinyan | Ep 573, Aug 3, 2026 [EP573]

Posted on Monday, Aug 3, 2026 | Category: Armenia, Politics, History, Transcript

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we speak with Dr. Pietro Shakarian about memory, repression, and state power in Armenia across Soviet and contemporary periods. We discuss the Great Purge in Soviet Armenia, the assassination of Aghasi Khanjyan, the suppression of Armenian national institutions under Stalin and Beria, and the parallels between Stalinist erasure and current efforts to control public memory, symbols, and mourning in post-Artsakh Armenia under the Civil Contract regime.