Tag: Nikol Pashinyan

Last updated: May 29, 2026

Nikol Pashinyan has been a central figure in Groong’s coverage since the podcast launched. He rose to power in 2018 through a street movement that its proponents called the Velvet Revolution — though a substantial segment of Armenian political opinion views the events as a color revolution or externally influenced regime change operation rather than a spontaneous civic uprising. His time in office has been defined by Armenia’s devastating loss in the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh war, a fraught relationship with Russia, and a gradual reorientation of Armenian foreign policy toward the European Union and the United States.

Groong episodes featuring Pashinyan as a subject cover a wide range of topics: his political survival after the 2020 war, domestic opposition from the Hayastan Dashinq alliance, Armenia-Azerbaijan peace negotiations, the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Nagorno Karabakh, and his government’s changing positions on CSTO membership and relations with Moscow.

Pashinyan in Moscow | Azerbaijan's Geo-politics | Baku Domestic Politics | Baku's Losses (Ep. 43) [EP43]

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2021 | Category: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Georgia, Iran, Artsakh, Economy, Israel, Human Rights | Series: WIR

ANN/Groong Week in Review - Jan 17, 2021

Topics Covered:

  • Outcomes from Nikol Pashinyan’s trip to Moscow
  • What is Azerbaijan’s geo-political situation after the war?
  • Domestic politics in Baku
  • Azerbaijan’s losses from the second war in Artsakh

Guests

  • Edgar Elbakyan
  • Asbed Kotchikian
  • Emil Sanamyan

Your Hosts:

  • Asbed Bedrossian
  • Hovik Manucharyan

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210117.html Recorded: January 17, 2021

Pashinyan in Moscow | Azerbaijan's Geo-politics | Baku Domestic Politics | Baku's Losses (Ep. 43) [EP43]

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2021 | Category: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Turkey, Syria, Georgia, Iran, Artsakh, Economy, Israel, Human Rights

ANN/Groong Week in Review - Jan 17, 2021

Topics Covered:

  • Outcomes from Nikol Pashinyan’s trip to Moscow
  • What is Azerbaijan’s geo-political situation after the war?
  • Domestic politics in Baku
  • Azerbaijan’s losses from the second war in Artsakh

Guests

  • Edgar Elbakyan
  • Asbed Kotchikian
  • Emil Sanamyan

Your Hosts:

  • Asbed Bedrossian
  • Hovik Manucharyan

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210117.html Recorded: January 17, 2021

Former Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan (Ep #42) - 01/18/2021 [EP42]

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2021 | Category: Nagorno Karabakh, Artsakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Human Rights | Series: cog

Former Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan - 01/18/2021

We’ll be discussing various legal and human-rights topics within the context of recent developments in Armenia.

Guest:

  • Ruben Melikyan was formerly Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman and prior to that rector of the Justice Academy of Armenia. In 2019, Melikyan co-founded and currently leads the “Path of Law” NGO.

Topics:

  • Why are there Armenian POWs still in Azerbaijan so long after the Nov. 9 ceasefire agreement?
  • On Constitutional Court judges being forced to resign
  • On Parliament’s endorsement of Gagik Jahangiryan’s appointment
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Former Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan (Ep #42) - 01/18/2021 [EP42]

Posted on Monday, Jan 18, 2021 | Category: Nagorno Karabakh, Artsakh, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Human Rights

Former Artsakh Ombudsman Ruben Melikyan - 01/18/2021

We’ll be discussing various legal and human-rights topics within the context of recent developments in Armenia.

Guest:

  • Ruben Melikyan was formerly Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman and prior to that rector of the Justice Academy of Armenia. In 2019, Melikyan co-founded and currently leads the “Path of Law” NGO.

Topics:

  • Why are there Armenian POWs still in Azerbaijan so long after the Nov. 9 ceasefire agreement?
  • On Constitutional Court judges being forced to resign
  • On Parliament’s endorsement of Gagik Jahangiryan’s appointment
 Read More

Conversation with Aram Vardevanyan (Ep #41) - 01/13/2021 [EP41]

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Human Rights, Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Israel, Russia | Series: COG

Conversation with Aram Vardevanyan - 01/13/2021

Since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in 2018, and prior to the Artsakh war of 2020, issues around the Armenian constitution and constitutional court have been in the center of public attention. These issues have been partly fueled by one of the most prominent legal cases in recent Armenian history, the March 1 trial against Armenian president Robert Kocharyan and military leadership at the time. We’ll explore issues surrounding the March 1 case, as well as legal and specifically constitutional questions related to the Nov. 9 ceasefire

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Conversation with Aram Vardevanyan (Ep #41) - 01/13/2021 [EP41]

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 13, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Human Rights, Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Israel, Russia

Conversation with Aram Vardevanyan - 01/13/2021

Since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in 2018, and prior to the Artsakh war of 2020, issues around the Armenian constitution and constitutional court have been in the center of public attention. These issues have been partly fueled by one of the most prominent legal cases in recent Armenian history, the March 1 trial against Armenian president Robert Kocharyan and military leadership at the time. We’ll explore issues surrounding the March 1 case, as well as legal and specifically constitutional questions related to the Nov. 9 ceasefire

 Read More

State of The Opposition | Update on Am/Az Border Positions | State of the Artsakh LoC (Ep #40) [EP40]

Posted on Monday, Jan 11, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Middle East, Turkey, Ukraine | Series: WIR

ANN/Groong Week in Review Episode 40 - Jan 10, 2021

Topics Covered:

  • The State of the Opposition and their demands
  • Update on the Border Positions between Armenia & Azerbaijan
  • The State of the Line of Contact around Artsakh

Guests

  • Asbed Kotchikian
  • George Tabakian

Your Hosts:

  • Asbed Bedrossian
  • Hovik Manucharyan

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210110.html Recorded: January 10, 2021

State of The Opposition | Update on Am/Az Border Positions | State of the Artsakh LoC (Ep #40) [EP40]

Posted on Monday, Jan 11, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Russia, Georgia, Middle East, Turkey, Ukraine

ANN/Groong Week in Review Episode 40 - Jan 10, 2021

Topics Covered:

  • The State of the Opposition and their demands
  • Update on the Border Positions between Armenia & Azerbaijan
  • The State of the Line of Contact around Artsakh

Guests

  • Asbed Kotchikian
  • George Tabakian

Your Hosts:

  • Asbed Bedrossian
  • Hovik Manucharyan

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210110.html Recorded: January 10, 2021

Conversation with My Step's Maria Karapetyan (Ep #39) - 01/08/2021 [EP39]

Posted on Friday, Jan 8, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Politics, Azerbaijan, China, Human Rights, Israel | Series: COG

Conversation with My Step’s Maria Karapetyan - 01/08/2021

As protesters in the streets of Yerevan continue demanding the resignation of PM Nikol Pashinyan in the aftermath of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, the ruling My Step faction seems to be firmly on the side of the prime minister.

In the last week or so here at Groong we hosted representatives of various opposition parties and today we will host a representative from the ruling My Step faction to talk about the ongoing political crisis in Armenia.

Today we’re joined by:

Maria Karapetyan, who is a member of the National Assembly with

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