CIVILNET

📍 Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court has ordered former president Robert Kocharyan into pre-trial detention in a criminal case involving charges of abuse of authority, large-scale bribery, and money laundering.📍 Moscow has accused Armenia of cracking down on Kocharyan and other pro-Russian politicians, describing the charges as “repressions.” It has also claimed that the Armenian government’s calls...

Armenian authorities have leveled new criminal charges against the country’s former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. Both are accused of abusing public authority, while Kocharyan also faces charges of embezzlement, bribery, and money laundering.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

📍 Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has unveiled his government’s priorities through 2031, which focuses on normalizing relations with Azerbaijan, and is a stark departure from the Russia- and Karabakh-centered priorities of the previous 2021 plan. 📍 TRIPP’s unresolved risks for Armenia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtxG0BnVKU#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

In this episode of the CivilNet podcast, Timothy Straight, founder of Arm.wool, and Kirk Wallace, a social investor and consultant at Arm.wool, discuss Arm.wool - a venture which aims to end wool waste, transforming a discarded material into a viable alternative to plastic. The discussion covers how ethos and economics intersect, the challenges of aligning national, international, and private effo...

One year after the Washington Summit, what has the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) actually achieved so far? Sergey Melkonian, Research Fellow at the Yerevan-based think tank APRI Armenia,joins CivilNet to discuss TRIPP’s geopolitical goals as well as the risk that it could enable a new form of blockade on Armenia. Melkonian notes how the project fits into Azerbaijan’s r...

📍 Narek Mkrtchyan, ⁠Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, has downplayed Azerbaijani obstructions to the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. 📍 Davit Babayan, Nagorno-Karabakh’s former foreign minister, says he will appeal the life sentence Azerbaijan handed to him in an international court.📍 Surviving Russian import bans: https://youtu.be/8USjhtaRmAc?si=5iMyBqbCiWHmRATs #Ci...

📍 U.S. Representative Abraham Hamadeh met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Yerevan today. He is known for co-authoring the bill that seeks to repeal Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which restricts U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan.📍 The AI factory that opened in the Armenian town of Hrazdan last month does not pose an environmental threat because it...

📍 Alen Simonyan has been appointed Armenia’s new Security Council secretary, replacing Armen Grigoryan after eight years in the position. 📍 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has ordered personnel changes in Armenia’s Military Police and Defense Ministry as scrutiny grows over a series of non-combat military deaths. 📍 Pashinyan says Armenia is preparing for rising energy demand from its gr...

Armenia today is a country of contrasts: rapid technological and economic development alongside a deep crisis of confidence following the wars and losses of recent years. On Insights, host Eric Hacopian examines this contradiction, from the launch of Firebird’s AI computing center in Hrazdan to the failure to adequately advocate for Armenian hostages held in Azerbaijan. He argues that with the sta...

📍 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has raised the prospect of broader Yerevan-Baku cooperation on regional infrastructure and energy as part of the Trump Route project.📍 A new report from the European Union argues that Armenia continues to advance its human rights reform agenda, but raises concerns around judicial independence, police abuses, and the speed of reforms.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #daily...

📍 A senior Russian diplomat has insisted that Armenia must announce a referendum deciding its future in the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union by the end of this year.📍 Armenia may use a planned gas pipeline through Syunik to diversify its fuel supplies with Azerbaijani natural gas if Russia raises its gas price, a ruling party lawmaker said.📍 Armenia’s new constitution will not reference the c...

📍 Firebird has opened the first $500 million phase of its planned $4 billion AI project in the central Armenian town of Hrazdan, with the facility expected to expand into a major regional computing hub. 📍 One year after the Washington summit, the U.S. is touting progress in Armenia-Azerbaijan peace efforts and the TRIPP project, even as the peace treaty remains unsigned. 📍 This week in business...

Israel’s decision to cancel a parliamentary vote recognizing the Armenian Genocide has raised questions about Azerbaijan’s influence and the political calculations behind the reversal. Insights host Eric Hacopian examines what this reveals about regional politics and why the issue extends beyond recognition itself. He also discusses Armenia’s efforts to expand gas-for-electricity cooperation with...

📍Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is in Kyrgyzstan for a Eurasian Economic Union meeting amid growing trade tensions with Russia over restrictions on Armenian exports. 📍U.S. official Aryeh Lightstone clarifies that funding for the TRIPP transit project remains at $201 million, after a U.S. government website showed a $402 million figure that appears to have resulted from an accounting change rathe...

The war with Iran has transformed the Middle East’s energy landscape, raising questions about oil markets, gas supplies, and regional alliances. Laury Haytayan, Middle East and North Africa Director at the Natural Resource Governance Institute, joined CivilNet to discuss the changing landscape of energy geopolitics and Armenia’s place within it. 0:00- How energy markets adapted to the war on Iran...

📍Hikmet Hajiyev, the foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, has confirmed that Azerbaijani pressure had been a driving force behind the Israeli parliament sidelining a motion to recognize the Armenian genocide last month.📍Annual inflation in Armenia stood at 5.1% in June, well above the Central Bank's 3% target. However, the regulator has decided not to adjust its poli...

📍Russia is seeking to take steps toward Armenia’s potential expulsion from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance it leads. Moscow’s representative in the bloc has announced that Yerevan may be stripped of its voting rights as soon as this November.📍Moscow has moved to ban additional brands of Armenian mineral water, including Bjni, following extensive sanctions against...

📍Armenia has agreed to expand its existing gas-for-electricity swap deal with Iran, a senior official has confirmed. Additional details weren’t immediately available.📍Russia broadened its existing trade restrictions with Armenia, adding dairy products to the list of banned goods. It now covers most agricultural goods.📍Armenia’s 1,000 biggest companies paid more than $3 billion in taxes in the f...

📍A criminal case against Catholicos Karekin II and five senior Armenian Apostolic Church clerics has been sent to court. 📍The World Bank says Armenia’s economic boom is slowing, warning that long-term growth will depend on higher productivity, skilled workers, and innovation. #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #DailyArmenia

📍Iran has proposed expanding natural gas exports to Armenia as the two countries explore deeper energy ties and new transportation links. 📍Human rights lawyer says there are credible reports that some Armenians held in Azerbaijani prisons have suffered serious injuries, including fractures, raising concerns that some may have resulted from violence.#CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #dailyarmenia

- A U.S. company linked to businessman Konstantin Sokolov acquired Armenia’s Teghut mine from Russia’s VTB bank. Sokolov is also involved in U.S.-backed efforts to develop a new transit route across the South Caucasus.- Armenia’s government advanced efforts to seize AraratCement, one of the country’s largest cement companies. It’s owned by prominent businessman Gagik Tsarukyan, who has been detain...

📍 The Armenian government takes control of Ararat Cement as authorities pursue asset forfeiture proceedings against businessman Gagik Tsarukyan.📍 Armenian lawyers criticize a proposal to ban HelpCourt.am, a website that allows lawyers to rate judges. 📍 The big ideas defining Armenia's political future- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwUL5tGEY1k #CivilNet #ՍիվիլՆեթ #DailyArmenia

📍New reporting indicates Azerbaijan successfully pressured Israel to withdraw its Armenian Genocide recognition bill after direct intervention with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 📍UN experts question Armenia’s use of terrorism charges against Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and some of his supporters, while the government defends the case as a legitimate investigation into planned violence. 📍F...

Insights host Eric Hacopian joins the CivilNet podcast to explain some of the concepts he uses on his show to describe Armenia’s current political situation. These include the country’s drift into “Finlandization”, as well as his rough equivalents for two competing political mindsets in Armenia's electorate: “Weimar Armenians,” a reference to interwar Germany’s reliance on concessions and subm...

📍 An Armenian court has placed Gagik Tsarukyan’s AraratCement under state management as prosecutors pursue a long-running illicit asset forfeiture case against the jailed opposition leader. 📍 Armenia sees an opportunity to purchase more U.S. defense technology as it strives to diversify its defense partners. 📍 EU Ambassador Maragos on von der Leyen’s Armenia visit and the future of relations- h...