Punish with pressure: new protests are expected in Armenia due to the detention of the opposition

Mass protests may intensify in Armenia after another detention of opposition representatives. Now the authorities are trying to maximize their influence by increasing the number of criminal cases against opponents and representatives of the church, MP from the Armenia faction Gegham Manukyan told Izvestia. Corruption schemes of the arrested politicians are being pointed out in Yerevan — on October 20, Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan was detained. How the political situation is heating up in the republic on the eve of the elections is described in the Izvestia article.

Why was the mayor of Gyumri detained?

On October 20, employees of the Anti—Corruption Committee of Armenia detained the mayor of Gyumri, the second largest city in the republic, Vardan Ghukasyan. He and the chief architect of the city hall are accused of accepting bribes. According to the committee, cases have been initiated against the mayor and seven other employees of the mayor's office, and a decision has been taken to detain them.

The media reported that the mayor and the chief architect agreed not to demolish an illegal building with an area of about 1.5 thousand square meters on Garegin Nzhdeh Street. In exchange, they demanded and received about $10,000 as a bribe from the owner. The law enforcement agency also released a recording of a conversation where, presumably, the mayor is discussing the details of the "deal" with someone.

In the morning, local media reported that 60-70 people entered the city administration building and "laid everyone on the floor." Later, several hundred people gathered near the city Hall. Then the protests escalated into clashes. Vice Mayor Gagik Manukyan also called on the residents of the city to take to the streets and stand up for the head.

During the rally, police forces were deployed to the City Hall. Later, more than 100 security forces arrived there with weapons. Some opposition figures also said they were going to Gyumri to support the detained mayor.

Ghukasyan was elected mayor of the city in April 2025, he is called an opposition politician. It is likely that Ghukasyan's long-standing conflict with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is behind the accusation of corruption. Recently, he accused the government of trying to turn the country into a Turkish vilayet (province

Gyumri, but not now: Armenian authorities are increasing pressure on the opposition

Security forces detained the mayor of the country's second largest city.

After that, Pashinyan stated in the country's parliament that those who make statements against Armenia's sovereignty should be "kicked out" of the political and public arena. The prime minister also accused Ghukasyan of bribing voters in the March elections and called his election as mayor a misunderstanding. In addition, he promised to "fix" the situation. It is possible that it was meant to remove the mayor from office.

Ghukasyan has repeatedly supported the idea of Armenia's integration into a union state with Russia. Back in 1997-1998, he helped the Communist Party of the Republic, which collected signatures in support of this initiative. According to him, such cooperation does not threaten Armenia's sovereignty in any way. At the same time, the media wrote that Ghukasyan is going to compete for the post of prime minister of the country in 2026.

In recent years, the authorities in Gyumri have lost a significant part of the support of the population — this was just demonstrated by the local government elections held in the spring of 2025, Gegham Manukyan, a deputy from the Armenia faction, tells Izvestia.

— Anti-government sentiments in Gyumri are huge, after the mayoral elections it became clear that the government had lost the positions it had previously held in this city. Sarik Minasyan ran for mayor from the authorities," he noted.

Currently, the detentions of City hall employees indicate the authorities' desire to deprive the opposition of administrative resources in this area, Dmitry Sidorov, head of the Department of Foreign Regional Studies at MGLU, Candidate of Political Sciences, told Izvestia.

Increasing pressure on the opposition

Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia in June 2026. Against this background, cases of detention of opposition representatives are becoming more frequent. As the voting date approaches, the pressure on her in the republic will only increase, Dmitry Sidorov believes.

"The country's authorities are trying to protect themselves from competition against the background of extremely low ratings of the Civil Contract party," the expert believes.

At the beginning of 2025, the rating of the ruling party fell to its lowest level since 2018, at 11.3%. In September, according to a sociological survey, only 12% of voters are ready to support Pashinyan in the upcoming vote. But it should be borne in mind that the ratings of the opposition in Armenia are also low. The detained Samvel Karapetyan is supported by about 10% of the population. And according to the poll, the largest faction of the opponents, Armenia, can only get about 6% of the votes. According to Dmitry Sidorov, there is a systemic crisis of trust in the authorities in the republic. The opposition also cannot formulate clear proposals for building the country's future.

The drop in the rating of the current authorities can be attributed to increased pressure on the church and the opposition in general. In the last six months, a number of arrests of archbishops have taken place in the republic. Representatives of the clergy had previously expressed support for the opposition, which blamed Pashinyan for the loss of control over Nagorno-Karabakh. In June 2025, Bagrat Galstanyan was detained, who led one of the most high-profile actions in 2024, when the demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan in the Tavush region began. He was accused of preparing terrorist attacks and attempting to seize power.

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Also in June, searches were conducted at the residence of the head of the Shirak Diocese, Mikael Ajapakhyan. In October, he was sentenced to two years in prison.

On October 15, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, the primate of the Aragatsotn diocese and Garegin II's nephew, was arrested for two months. And on October 16, the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia extended the arrest of Samvel Karapetyan, the head of Tashir Group of Companies, who had financially supported the church for many years, for 30 days.

Earlier, the "I have the Honor" faction announced its intention to initiate the process of impeachment of Pashinyan. Later, the largest opposition parliamentary faction Armenia supported the initiative and handed over the signatures of 28 of its deputies on September 26. Currently, the faction has 34 signatures, but 54 votes are needed to achieve a change of prime minister. At the same time, 36 is needed in order for this issue to be considered in parliament.

Wanting to strengthen their positions and eliminate competitors, the authorities began to resort to new, already illegal methods of pressure on the opposition, Gegham Manukyan is sure.

— The authorities illegally listen to some telephone conversations, after which criminal cases are initiated. It is clear where some information comes from, which is published on pro-government information platforms, after which criminal cases are initiated," he continued.

Under the current conditions, large-scale protests should be expected in Armenia before the elections, Gegham Manukyan noted.

— Over the weekend, we saw rallies of up to several thousand people. A lot of different parties, representatives of movements, and opposition structures participated there. It was clear that they were starting a series of rallies," he emphasizes.

However, Pashinyan claims that a "hybrid war" has been waged against his government in recent years by the opposition.

— Listen, there has never been and cannot be a hybrid war like the one that was unleashed against us in 2020-2021. Starting with the fact that my grandfather was called a traitor for allegedly siding with the Nazis in World War II," the Prime Minister said on October 1.

Earlier, speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Armenian Prime Minister stressed that most of the republican media are under the influence of the opposition, and they spread disinformation.

But the rallies in the republic are not only because of the political aggravation. For example, on October 20, a truck drivers protest rally was held near the Armenian government building. They demand that the authorities resolve the issue of limiting the length of their stay in Russia. Starting from January 1, 2025, citizens of countries with a visa-free regime, including Armenia, who do not enter Russia for the purpose of employment, can stay here for no more than 90 days per calendar year. However, drivers have to exceed the time limit due to constant delays when crossing the border. Previously, they could stay in the country for 90 days for six months. If the problem cannot be solved, the drivers promise to block the roads.