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143-445: Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( Armenian : Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան , pronounced [nikɔl pʰɑʃinˈjɑn] ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in 1998, which was shut down a year later for libel. He was sentenced for one year for defamation against then Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan . He edited

286-546: A political prisoner , including by international organizations, and Armenian media. Davit Shahnazaryan, ex-Minister of National Security, described the trial as a "lynch trial against a representative of the opposition." Thomas Hammarberg , Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights , noted that the Prosecutor General's office used a "detailed expert analysis of the linguistic and psychological aspects of Mr Pashinyan's speech had been performed, and that this

429-407: A "bloodless and peaceful" revolution and stressed that it depends on the authorities. He blamed the deaths of ten people on 1 March on Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, whom he claimed "ordered and organized the slaughter." In late June 2009, Pashinyan declared that he had decided to come out of hiding after a general amnesty was declared by the government. He stated, "I conclude with pride that it

572-474: A "continuation of political repressions." The verdict was delivered on 19 January 2010 by the court of the general jurisdiction of the communities of Kentron and Nork-Marash in Yerevan. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for "organizing mass disorders" on 1–2 March 2008. He was given a stricter punishment than the prosecutor demanded. He was acquitted of charges of using violence against a policeman (kicking

715-448: A "revolution of 30 seconds". He explained that voters are alone inside the voting booths and they can wage a revolution by voting for the ANC in the 30 seconds that they have for themselves. He stated, "We do not expect your active participation in our rallies, campaign for the ANC in your workplace and at home. You enter the polling booth, vote for the ANC, and that's it, the revolution starts,

858-572: A 19th-century church ruined during the Soviet days. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 21,081, making it the most populated town in the province. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Ijevan is around 20,700. According to popular tradition, King Artavasdes I built a city on the territory of present-day Ijevan during his reign in the 2nd century BC. He gathered only attractive girls and boys from all over Armenian regions, so that later they would get married and settle in

1001-520: A consistent Proto-Indo-European pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages. The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with Holger Pedersen (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. Antoine Meillet (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that

1144-480: A cooperation with Tsarukyan, the ANC would be able to depose Serzh Sargsyan. Pashinyan stated he "did not find a compromise with March 1 criminals possible" in a reference to ex-president Kocharyan who was thought to be supportive of Tsarukyan. Regarding the 2013 presidential election , he believed that Ter-Petrosyan would nominate his candidacy and "all those who want to defeat Serzh Sargsyan can defend Levon Ter-Petrosyan's candidacy." After Ter-Petrosyan declined to be

1287-615: A criminal coup d'etat " and claimed that Ter-Petrosyan had won in the first round. Pashinyan was one of the most prominent orators during the post-election protests in late February. On 21 February, when Ter-Petrosyan's supporters set up tents at Freedom Square , Pashinyan declared the square to be the central headquarters of Ter-Petrosyan. He declared, "We expect our legitimate demands to be met. Our actions will be peaceful as long as all we have not exhausted all legal methods of struggle. We are prepared for any scenario." He urged demonstrators to be restrained and patient. Pashinyan also stated in

1430-474: A dangerous turn for them. That is why they are taking jittery steps which will not yield any results." However, RFE/RL reported that Ter-Petrosyan remained an unpopular figure. On election day, 19 February 2008, the Ter-Petrosyan camp claimed numerous violations and cases of violence, while Pashinyan put responsibility for any possible violence on the "ruling regime." He called the election an "attempt at

1573-473: A different incident, a group of Pashinyan supporters was attacked by young men. Pashinyan was elected member of the National Assembly from the ANC, which barely passed the 7% threshold for electoral alliances and received 7 seats. In October 2012, Pashinyan publicly denounced any potential ANC collaboration with Gagik Tsarukyan and his Prosperous Armenia party. Ter-Petrosyan argued that through

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1716-525: A large trading company which the court had ruled constituted defamation . The properties of Oragir were confiscated and its bank accounts frozen. According to Simon Payaslian , the case made Pashinyan the "first journalist prosecuted for libel in post-Soviet Armenia." His conviction was criticized by Armenian and foreign human rights activists. Human rights defender Avetik Ishkhanian noted that "In 1999 almost as many cases were brought against Oragir as against all newspapers of Armenia from 1994 till 1998. This

1859-468: A loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian եւ yev , ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities. Loan words from Iranian languages , along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that

2002-588: A march to the National Security Service building to demand the release of ex-foreign minister Alexander Arzumanyan , whom they considered a political prisoner. It led to clashes, where policemen beat members of the opposition with batons and used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Pashinyan told the crowd: "Victory is not achieved at once. Victory is achieved step by step. Today we took a very important step towards our victory. Well done." Ararat Mahtesyan, deputy chief of police, blamed Pashinyan for

2145-601: A member of the ANC's faction in parliament. Following his break with Ter-Petrosyan and the ANC, Pashinyan founded a political group called "Civil Contract" on 9 December 2013. Pashinyan, who was one of the 7 members of its governing body, declared that they will seek to remove Serzh Sargsyan from power and hold free and fair elections. Other members of the board were Sasun Mikayelyan and 5 formerly politically unaffiliated activists. Pashinyan increasingly distanced himself from Ter-Petrosyan and criticized him for making false promises to his supporters about imminent snap elections after

2288-533: A mere populist. Pashinyan's new government included multiple liberal western NGO activists being appointed to senior positions, as well as supporters from the Velvet Revolution who had no previous political experience. Pashinyan led Armenia through the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War , the most recent and significant outbreak of violence due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia with

2431-716: A modern resort in the Yenokavan canyon. Ijevan is home to 6 public education schools and 3 pre-school kindergartens. The Ijevan campus of the Yerevan State University is operating in the town since the 1994–95 academic year. As of 2016–17, with more than 700 students, the Ijevan campus is home to 4 faculties: Ijevan is home to the all-seater Arnar Stadium , built in 2007 and hosted the Armenian Independence Cup final match in 2008 for

2574-628: A movement against Sargsyan's "third term in office." Vahram Baghdasaryan, the Republican leader in parliament, dismissed Pashinyan's declarations, saying that "Power is not a box which they can pick up. You need grounds to take power." On 31 March, Pashinyan and a group of supporters began a march from Gyumri , Armenia's second largest city. The campaign, named "My Step", was declared with the intention to prevent Sargsyan's election as prime minister on 17 April. Pashinyan stated: Our action plan includes blocking roads, blockading buildings and generating

2717-425: A network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened

2860-488: A new generation of younger Armenian leaders." Despite widespread voter apathy and cynicism, Pashinyan stressed that there is a "way out of the depressive crisis that has plagued Armenia." Pashinyan believed that the bloc could win the elections, following an energetic campaigning across Armenia. According to official figures, the Way Out alliance received some 122,000 votes (7.8% of the total), which translated into 9 seats in

3003-412: A police attack. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported that "Many protesters were already armed with metal and wooden sticks and sounded bullish about taking on security forces. Some held truncheons and shields seized from riot police." Pashinyan called on the crowd to stay calm and not to communicate with the police. RFE/RL also noted that there are no "demonstrators carrying weapons." Later in

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3146-560: A police officer in the leg) during the election campaign in October 2007. The Court of Appeals of Armenia upheld the ruling on 9 March 2010, also ruling that Pashinyan will serve half of his sentence in accordance with the general amnesty. The Court of Cassation upheld the decision on 6 May 2010. On 18 January 2022, the European Court of Human Rights issued a verdict in the case of Pashinyan v. Armenia submitted in 2010, concerning

3289-458: A presidential candidate, Pashinyan did not endorse any candidate. However, following the election, he showed outspoken support for the official runner-up, Raffi Hovannisian . He stated, "The current political situation is more than clear. People trust the leader of the Heritage party, Raffi Hovannisian, who must present to the society his vision regarding the further developments. My assistance to

3432-411: A result of the dialogue" between the ANC and the government or they will take place under "popular pressure." He called for an early presidential election which would be an "opportunity for a smooth resignation of power." After failed talks with the government, Pashinyan called for a revolution. He declared, "Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan and their oligarchs shall return all the loot to the last penny to

3575-473: A result of the examination, while prisoners testified that there was no violence." After Pashinyan requested to be moved into solitary confinement for security reasons, the Prison officials agreed to his request a week later. He requested to be moved to a more secure Artik prison on 30 November and his request was granted. The Ministry of Justice stated Pashinyan solitary confinement was due to his own request and

3718-457: A result of the new road opened between Kazakh ( Qazax ) and Erivan ( Yerevan ), passing through Karavansara. Following the 1918 independence of Armenia , the name of Karavansara was changed to Ijevan in 1919. On 29 November 1920, Ijevan, along with Noyemberyan, was the first Armenian settlement where Soviet rule was established, after being invaded by the Red Army from Soviet Azerbaijan in

3861-629: A seat in the parliament in the 10th constituency, a single-member district that covered the center of Yerevan. The seat was vacated by Khachatur Sukiasyan , a businessman and an ally of Ter-Petrosyan. He became the first jailed candidate in independent Armenia's history to run for parliament. He initially could not to registered as a candidate because the Passport and Visa Department of the Police refused to confirm that Pashinyan had resided in Armenia for

4004-829: A speech that they demanded invalidation of the vote and new presidential elections. Although Ter-Petrosyan's camp disputed the election results, international observers deemed the election to be largely fair and democratic. A vote-monitoring mission by the OSCE , the Council of Europe , and the European Parliament stating: "The February 19 presidential election in the Republic of Armenia was administered mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards. The high-State authorities made genuine efforts to address shortcomings noted in previous elections, including

4147-401: A statement that Pashinyan had been expelled due to absences. In a 2015 interview Pashinyan stated that he considers himself more of a journalist because journalism brought him into politics. Pashinyan became engaged in journalism in 1992 as a journalism student at YSU. He worked at the newspapers Dprutyun , Hayastan , Lragir , and Molorak . In 1998 he founded the daily Oragir ("Diary"). It

4290-706: Is +39 °C and the minimum is -16.1 °C. The annual precipitation is 575.2 mm. Ijevan is the largest urban community of Tavush. The majority of the town's population are ethnic Armenians who belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church . The regulating body of the church is the Diocese of Tavush , headed by Archbishop Yeznik Petrosyan. The seat of the Diocese of Tavush is the Surp Nerses Cathedral in Ijevan opened in 1997, after

4433-581: Is a time bomb planted under Armenian statehood." Pashinyan stated that "Money is Armenia's most popular politician." Pashinyan topped the list of the Way Out alliance in the 15 May 2017 Yerevan City Council election . He was, thus, the alliance's candidate for mayor of Yerevan. He sought to challenge Taron Margaryan , the Republican Mayor. Pashinyan strongly criticized the poor state of Yerevan's public transportation. His election campaign mostly consisted of house-to-house campaigning. He stated during

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4576-552: Is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages . It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization , although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian ), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian

4719-588: Is bordered by the village of Getahovit from the north and the village of Gandzakar from the south. A small lake is found at the southern entrance of the town known as Spitak Jur. This location is classified as Cfa by the Köppen climate classification . The average temperature of the year is 12.4 °C, in January it is 0.5 °C, while in July it is 23.9 °C. The maximum temperature registered ever in Ijevan

4862-561: Is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. Eric P. Hamp (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the augment and a negator derived from the set phrase in the Proto-Indo-European language * ne h₂oyu kʷid ("never anything" or "always nothing"),

5005-557: Is connected with the capital Yerevan and the rest of Armenian territories through the M-4 highway. The highway extends through the Armenia-Azerbaijan border 16 km northeast of the town. Domestically, Ijevan is connected with the surrounding towns and villages of Tavush Province through a network of regional roads. In the late 1980s the town had a railway station on the line between Yerevan and Ganja, Azerbaijan . Following

5148-474: Is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵipyós , with cognates in Sanskrit (ऋजिप्य, ṛjipyá ), Avestan ( ərəzifiia ), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, aigípios ). Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian eue ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely

5291-491: Is evidence of political persecution." Under apparent local and international pressure, the Court of Appeals reduced his punishment to a one-year suspended sentence because the original sentence was too harsh. Following the demise of Oragir , Pashinyan became the editor of Haykakan Zhamanak ("Armenian Times"), affiliated with the minor opposition Democratic Homeland Party, led by former MP Petros Makeyan which had split off from

5434-471: Is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from Luwian , although some researchers have identified possible Hittite loanwords as well. One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian xalam , "skull", cognate to Hittite ḫalanta , "head". In 1985,

5577-512: Is now my turn to become a political prisoner. My decision to move from underground to prison is also driven by a concern about effective political struggle. The struggle needs fresh impetus. Some of my political prisoner comrades will give that impetus after regaining their freedom, while I hope to do that after finding myself in prison." Pashinyan arrived at the General Prosecutor's Office on 1 July 2009 and surrendered himself. Entering

5720-535: Is still operating in Ijevan, this being the Ijevan Wine-Brandy Factory founded in 1951 (particularly famous for its pomegranate wine). The Ijevan carpet weaving mill was the largest in the Caucasus and the 3rd-largest in the whole Soviet Union . After the independence of Armenia, many small industrial plants were founded, including the "Karart" stone processing plant (since 2003). In 2014,

5863-461: Is that there is a way out of this situation." The bloc also claimed to strive to establish a "European model of the democratic, rule-of-law and social state" in Armenia. The bloc positioned itself as the only true opposition to Serzh Sargsyan, claiming that Gagik Tsarukyan and Seyran Ohanyan would prefer cutting deals with Sargsyan instead of regime change. The alliance was seen as pro-Western and "standing for election to replace [Serzh Sargsyan] with

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6006-527: Is the working language. Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a minority language in Cyprus , Hungary , Iraq , Poland , Romania , and Ukraine . It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . Ijevan Ijevan ( Armenian : Իջևան [id͡ʒɛˈvɑn] ) is a town and urban municipal community in

6149-478: The 2007 parliamentary election , garnering 1.3% of the vote. Pashinyan was a dedicated supporter of Ter-Petrosyan, who made a political comeback prior to the 2008 presidential election , before losing to Serzh Sargsyan in what Ter-Petrosyan and his supporters claimed was a fraudulent election. Pashinyan was one of the leaders of Ter-Petrosyan's supporters in the post-election protests in February and March 2008;

6292-466: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet (" օ " and " ֆ "), bringing the total number to 38. The Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of

6435-590: The Armenian National Academy of Sciences , a generally pro-government establishment organization, signed a letter calling for Pashinyan's release. On 11 November 2010 Pashinyan claimed to have been attacked inside his prison cell at Kosh prison by two masked men and requested to be moved to a more secure cell by himself. Armenian Justice Ministry and the Prison Officials disputed Pashinyans claims stating: "No injuries were detected as

6578-563: The Armenian genocide , mostly in the diaspora ). The differences between them are considerable but they are mutually intelligible after significant exposure. Some subdialects such as Homshetsi are not mutually intelligible with other varieties. Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC Behistun Inscription and in Xenophon 's 4th century BC history, The Anabasis ),

6721-529: The Elizavetpol Governorate was established and Tavush became part of the newly formed Kazakh uezd . Under the Russian rule, approximately 6,000 Armenian families from Karabakh were allowed to move to the valley of Aghstev river to be resettled in the region of Tavush including the territory of the village of Karavansara. The village witnessed a notable revival during the 1860s and 1870s, as

6864-641: The Greek language , the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages . Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, Proto-Armenian would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the satem change) but others only with Greek ( s > h ). Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe

7007-472: The Hanrapetutyun Party (led by former PM Aram Sargsyan ) announced their intention to join forces. The 3 parties signed a memorandum of cooperation on 12 December. The newly founded alliance stated that they hoped to win 50 plus 1 percent of vote in the election. The bloc was named Yelk ("Way Out") on 23 December. Pashinyan explained the name as follows: "The latest political news in Armenia

7150-600: The Ijevan Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia , also serving as the province's administrative centre. It is located at the center of the region, at the foot of Ijevan ridge of Gugark Mountains, on the shores of Aghstev River . Ijevan is the seat of the Diocese of Tavush of the Armenian Apostolic Church . Ijevan is located at a road distance of 137 km northeast of Yerevan . The Yerevan - Tbilisi highway passes through Ijevan. As of

7293-643: The Indo-European homeland to be located in the Armenian Highlands , the " Armenian hypothesis ". Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection. Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label Aryano-Greco-Armenic , splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and Indo-Iranian ). Classical Armenian (Arm: grabar ), attested from

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7436-529: The Karabakh movement of 1988. He did not serve in the Armenian Army because his two elder brothers served before him and he was not obliged to serve by law. Pashinyan studied journalism at Yerevan State University (YSU) from 1991 to 1995. He was expelled from the university before graduating. Pashinyan claimed to have been expelled for his political activities, although Yerevan State University released

7579-477: The Marriott Hotel Yerevan . Pashinyan was considered a key ally of Ter-Petrosyan during the 2008 presidential election campaign and was a member of his election office. Pashinyan was detained with several others for less than a day after an altercation with police officers on 16 October 2007 when a group of Ter-Petrosyan's supporters were announcing an upcoming rally over a loudspeaker. Pashinyan

7722-542: The Mekhitarists . The first Armenian periodical, Azdarar , was published in grabar in 1794. The classical form borrowed numerous words from Middle Iranian languages , primarily Parthian , and contains smaller inventories of loanwords from Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Mongol, Persian, and indigenous languages such as Urartian . An effort to modernize the language in Bagratid Armenia and

7865-504: The North Caucasus . The name Ijevan became official in 1961 when the settlement became a town. Chamber tombs found at the centre of present-day Ijevan, as well as late Bronze Age cemetery on the left bank of Aghstev river, attest to the early occupation of the site. Historically, the area of modern-day Ijevan was part of ancient Utik and Gugark ; the 12th and 13th provinces of Greater Armenia respectively. Separated by

8008-713: The Russian Empire in 1800–01. The territories became an official region of Russia as per the Treaty of Gulistan signed between Imperial Russia and Qajar Persia in October 1813, following the Russo-Persian War of 1804–13 . In 1840, the Elizavetpol uezd was formed and most of the territories of Tavush became part of the newly founded administrative division of the Russian Empire. Later in 1868,

8151-485: The dissolution of the Soviet Union , the station was closed with no rail services up to the present day, although the possibility of reopening the line is under consideration as of 2021. Ijevan is the economic centre of Tavush. During the Soviet period, the town had witnessed a remarkable industrial progress especially in the field of carpet manufacturing and wood processing. Only one of the Soviet era manufacturing

8294-403: The "Vector" company for software development was opened in Ijevan. However, unemployment rates remain high in Ijevan and the entire region. Tavush is one of the most picturesque regions in Armenia. Nestled in the valley of Aghstev surrounded with forests and high mountains, Ijevan is more likely a forest-resort. The town did have a 200-bed high-rise hotel built in 1969 on the northern side of

8437-469: The "fulfillment of the trio's pledge to end the ‘heated political autumn’ with regime change." Besides Pashinyan, two MPs from Heritage party, Alexander Arzumanyan and Zaruhi Postanjyan , signed the draft law on Sargsyan's impeachment. On 30 May 2015, Civil Contract was registered as a political party. Pashinyan stated about the foundation of the party: "We are setting up a party that does not intend to be in opposition for long and expects to assume power in

8580-552: The 105 seat parliament (8.5%). Pashinyan was also a candidate in the 4th electoral district, which comprises the Kentron , Nor Nork , Erebuni , and Nubarashen districts of Yerevan. He gained the most votes (11,513) from the Way Out alliance, while coming third overall— after two Republicans, who each gained more than 20,000 votes. He was thus elected from to the National Assembly from this constituency. The bloc accepted

8723-423: The 20 February rally that the end results of the protests depends on Hovannisian's "determination" and ability to "address the people without puzzles. The people of Armenia cannot be led to a defeat or disappointment. Victory or northing! Victory and nothing else!" Pashinyan eventually severed ties with Ter-Petrosyan's ANC over the latter's pursuit of cooperation with Tsarukyan's party, although he remained nominally

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8866-441: The 2008 government crackdown. In October 2014 he criticized the trio of ANC, Prosperous Armenia and Heritage parties for their alleged power-sharing deals with Serzh Sargsyan instead of forcing him to resign. Pashinyan criticized the ambiguity of their demands and accused them of monopolizing of the political field in Armenia. In November 2014 he announced his plans to start an impeachment process against Serzh Sargsyan to contribute to

9009-483: The 2008 presidential elections, recognising the violation of Pashinyan's rights to freedom of assembly and expression, personal integrity, liberty and security during the events of 2008, when he was still an oppositionist and got arrested on charges of organizing mass riots and sentenced to 7 years. Pashinyan did not file claims for material compensation with the European Court. Pashinyan was widely recognized as

9152-458: The 2011 census, the population of the town was 21,081, making it the most populated town in the province. Ijevan is also famous for its beautiful mountains. The town's current name Ijevan , and its former name Karavansara (until 1919), both mean "inn" ( caravanserai ), in Armenian and Persian , respectively. The area of modern-day Ijevan used to have many roadside inns known as caravanserais that served travelers between historic Syria and

9295-554: The 554th Rifle Regiment of the 138th Rifle Division and died in 1943. His father, Vova Pashinyan (1940–2020), worked as a football and volleyball coach and as a physical education teacher. His mother Svetlana died when he was 12 and he was mostly raised by his stepmother, Yerjanik, who was Vova's second wife. He graduated from the Ijevan Secondary School N1 in 1991. In 2018, Pashinyan claimed to have organized students strikes, marches and demonstrations during

9438-408: The 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by Middle Armenian , attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for grabar as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from

9581-539: The ANC held a rally at Freedom Square for the first time since the 1 March events. Ter-Petrosyan called for talks with the government. Pashinyan speaking at a rally for the first time since the 1 March 2008 events declared, "From today on we start a political process in favour of early presidential and parliamentary elections, because only they may return people's faith in its future." Ter-Petrosyan considered Pashinyan's release an unprecedented victory. Pashinyan, in an interview, said that either snap election "will take place as

9724-729: The Aghstev river, the eastern half of Ijevan was part of the Tuchkatak canton of the historic Utik, while the western half belonged to the Dzorapor canton of the historic Gugark. Being located on a vital route of trade between the Levant and Northern Caucasus, the region of present-day Ijevan was home to many rest-houses and caravanserais during the Middle Ages , serving as rest-houses for the passing merchants and their caravans, mainly on

9867-481: The Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words, through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually,

10010-467: The Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa. A notable example is arciv , meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian Arṣibi and Northeast Caucasian arzu . This word

10153-541: The Karabakhtsi scum", referring to Kocharyan and Sargsyan. In March 2018, Pashinyan asked the Prosecutor General of Armenia to subpoena Kocharyan for questioning for the events of 1 March 2008 and the latter's order to use force. Kocharyan's spokesman Viktor Soghomonyan responded calling Pashinyan "the main provocateur and organizer of the 1 March 2008 disturbances." In his 2018 memoir, Kocharyan heavily criticized Pashinyan. Characterizing Pashinyan as "a main actor behind

10296-449: The Republic of Armenia in the foreseeable future by gaining a popular vote of confidence." For the first time in his career, Pashinyan joined a political party. The party immediately declared its intention to participate in the 2017 parliamentary election. In November 2015 Pashinyan stated that they will make a promise about regime change only once and will not "lead the people to defeat." The party sought to recruit 6,000 proxies—3 for each of

10439-669: The Russian Empire), removed almost all of their Turkish lexical influences in the 20th century, primarily following the Armenian genocide . In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is indigenous , Armenian is spoken among the diaspora . According to Ethnologue , globally there are 1.6 million Western Armenian speakers and 3.7 million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling 5.3 million Armenian speakers. In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki districts where they represent over 90% of

10582-404: The Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated. Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to Istanbul , whereas Tbilisi became

10725-780: The Soviet linguist Igor M. Diakonoff noted the presence in Classical Armenian of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the Kartvelian and Northeast Caucasian languages . Noting that Hurro-Urartian-speaking peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ałaxin "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne ), cov "sea" ( ← Urart. ṣûǝ "(inland) sea"), ułt "camel" ( ← Hurr. uḷtu ), and xnjor "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ḫinzuri ). Some of

10868-518: The Ter-Petrosyan led HHSh. Pashinyan remained editor of the newspaper until 2012, when he was elected to parliament. The US State Department characterized both Oragir and Haykakan Zhamanak as "sensationalist political tabloids." The U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty described the newspaper as "sympathetic to Armenia's former leadership [Ter-Petrosyan's government], is known for its hard-hitting coverage of President Robert Kocharian and his government." On 23 December 1999, Pashinyan

11011-568: The approximately 2,000 electoral precincts of Armenia to prevent electoral fraud. On 10 September 2016 Pashinyan was declared the Civil Contract's candidate for prime minister at a rally in Freedom Square. Though initially skeptical of the idea of electoral blocs, Pashinyan stated in October 2016 that they are ready to cooperate with other parties. On 1 December 2016, Civil Contract, Bright Armenia (led by MP Edmon Marukyan ), and

11154-431: The bloc was impeaching President Robert Kocharyan , but also ousting Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan from power. On 20 February 2007, their first rally at Yerevan's Freedom Square drew around 1,000 people, which prompted RFE/RL to note that Ter-Petrosyan's allies have a "persisting lack of public support." The bloc offered a liberal alternative to the policies of Kocharyan. Pashinyan stated at

11297-478: The building, Pashinyan told surprised officers: "Hello. I am Nikol Pashinyan, and I came to be arrested." It followed an amnesty declared by the National Assembly which would allow him to be released if his sentence was less than 5 years. He declared that he will continue his struggle in prison. A court authorized a two-month period of custody for Pashinyan, which was extended for the same period in August. Heritage ,

11440-631: The campaign, "You can rely on us in replacing this clan-based and corrupt rule in the capital by the people's rule." To counter alleged vote buying by the Republican Party, Pashinyan made an election promise to provide residents of Yerevan 15,000 Armenian drams (~$ 31) for not taking bribes from the Republican Party if elected mayor. According to media reports, bribes by the ruling party averaged 10,000 drams (~$ 21). "We would introduce social aid for citizens coerced into taking vote bribes," said Pashinyan. Other opposition parties criticized Pashinyan for

11583-462: The caption, "Degenerate officials recruited for the civil service." The charges were condemned by the three largest parliamentary groups, including pro-government ones. The case was eventually dropped in April by prosecutors by citing lack of evidence. On 22 November 2004, a Lada Niva car belonging to Pashinyan, parked outside the office of Haykakan Zhamanak exploded. The fire caused by the explosion

11726-434: The center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life. The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to

11869-580: The city. In hiding, Pashinyan continued regularly writing commentaries in Haykakan Zhamanak . In his writings, Pashinyan claimed to be travelling around the world with a fake Serbian passport. In 2009, he stated at a court that his accounts about supposed adventures were a piece of literary fiction . In October 2008, he wrote that the authorities have proved that only through a revolution can rule of law, civil rights and free economic competition be established in Armenia. He stated that he believes in

12012-515: The door opens up for the future of their children, for justice." In the constituency he came in second with around 28% of the vote after Samvel Aleksanyan, an oligarch affiliated with the Republican Party, who garnered 58% of the vote. During the election campaign in Malatia-Sebastia, Pashinyan was confronted by several dozen pro-Aleksanyan women voters. In response, Pashinyan told Aleksanyan not to "send women and hide behind their backs." In

12155-477: The election Oragir published 281 articles on political parties participating in the election, of which 11 were positive. All positive coverage was given to ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan's Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh), which the newspaper sympathized with. In August 1999 Pashinyan was sentenced to one year in prison after refusing to pay a libel fine of around $ 25,000. He was also ordered to retract his accusations against Serzh Sargsyan and Mika-Armenia,

12298-429: The evening, after around 20,000 people had gathered at Myasnikyan Square, government forces began an assault against the protesters by firing rounds into the air to disperse them. Pashinyan urged people to stay. He also blamed the government for "destabilizing the situation." Pashinyan denied provoking violence. Pashinyan was heard telling protestors "to take the government by attack" and that "we must liberate our city from

12441-580: The existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the Armenian genocide preserved the Western Armenian dialect. The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in

12584-512: The fact that Sargsyan promised not to be nominated as president or prime minister after his second presidential term, Pashinyan believed that the Republican Party had "already made a de facto internal decision to nominate" him. Although all constituent parties of the Way Out alliance found Sargsyan's continued rule as prime minister—his "third term"—unacceptable, there was a disagreement within the alliance whether street protests should be waged against it or not. The roadmap of Pashinyan's Civil Contract

12727-500: The first and the only time being played outside the capital Yerevan . FC Bentonit Ijevan was the only professional football club in the town, dissolved in 2007 due to financial difficulties. Currently, the town has an under-19 football club known as FC Nikarm, operating since 2000. The town has a children and youth sport school run by the municipality. Ijevan is the venue of the annual MultiForce off-road racing international competition, that attracts participants from Armenia and

12870-420: The further programs of Raffi Hovannisian will depend on their political and civil contents. Bringing the Armenian people to real victories is the goal that I have always served and will continue to serve." In the post-election protests , Pashinyan joined Hovannisian at Freedom Square, where he called the latter the "elected president", claiming the elections were rigged by Sargsyan's government. Pashinyan stated at

13013-444: The government. Greeting a crowd of supporters gathered outside the gates, he declared "Our struggle is unstoppable, our victory inevitable." He was released along with Sasun Mikayelyan , a Karabakh War veteran and an ally of Ter-Petrosyan. They were the two last major opposition politicians jailed for the 1 March events. Pashinyan affirmed that he and the ANC are committed to the idea of democratic revolution in Armenia. On 31 May 2011,

13156-425: The hypothetical Mushki language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language. W. M. Austin (1942) concluded that there was early contact between Armenian and Anatolian languages , based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or synapomorphies ), the common retention of archaisms (or symplesiomorphy )

13299-470: The interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or

13442-440: The kind of civic activity that would enable us to go to the National Assembly and halt the work of the deceitful state and deceitful regime created by Serzh Sargsyan. We want to enable Armenia's citizens to speak up against Serzh Sargsyan's and the Republican Party's perfidy. On 11 April, Lena Nazaryan and Ararat Mirzoyan , two MPs from Civil Contract set off smoke flares on parliament floor, calling them "our torch of freedom," at

13585-434: The late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by

13728-514: The leadup to the elections. His party won the 2021 election , receiving more than half of all votes. Nikol Pashinyan was born on 1 June 1975 in Ijevan , in the northeastern province of Tavush . At least one of his grandparents was from the village of Yenokavan , around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Ijevan. He was named after his paternal grandfather who died in World War II . He served in

13871-483: The legal framework, and repeatedly stated their intention to conduct democratic elections". Ter-Petrosyan's supporters gathered at Myasnikyan Square, near the French Embassy and Yerevan City Hall where Pashinyan became the main orator. Ter-Petrosyan was put under house arrest. In late afternoon, Pashinyan called on the crowd to reinforce the barricades around the square and "boost their self-defense" in case of

14014-419: The likely 2008 presidential successor of Kocharyan, only if they unite around a single presidential candidate. Levon Ter-Petrosyan , Armenia's first president, made a comeback on 21 September 2007 – appearing publicly for the first time since his resignation in 1998. Pashinyan and Haykakan Zhamanak expressed support for Ter-Petrosyan. Pashinyan stood behind Ter-Petrosyan when the latter announced his comeback at

14157-492: The main road which is now in ruins due to vandalism. The Ijevan Sanctuary is a protected wildlife sanctuary at the west of the town, covering an area of 59 km . The Yenokavan canyon near the village of Yenokavan village just to the north of Ijevan is among the most visited destinations in the region. It has a number of cliffs, caves, forests, rivers and waterfalls. "Anapat cave" has pre-Christian carvings that resemble Mayan and Aztec works. There are small rest houses and

14300-495: The major parliamentary opposition, declared that they consider Pashinyan a political prisoner whose detention is part of the "political vendetta by the country's ruling group." An open letter signed by 60 intellectuals and public figures in August 2009 called for his release. A number of independent and pro-opposition newspapers and other media also called for his release from pre-trial detention. Pashinyan's trial began on 20 October 2009. In his first speech, Pashinyan called his trial

14443-504: The morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as parallelism . In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time Eastern Armenia was conquered from Qajar Iran by the Russian Empire , while Western Armenia , containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under Ottoman control. The antagonistic relationship between

14586-481: The newly established town. Thus, the citizens of modern-day Ijevan are the successors of the handsome generations formed 2000 years ago. Ijevan and its countryside are home to several cultural heritage monuments of the Armenian Architecture , including: Ijevan was used to host an annual symposium of sculpture between 1985 and 1990 with the presence of many experts from all over the world. Therefore,

14729-420: The newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak ("Armenian Times") from 1999 to 2012. A supporter of Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan , he was highly critical of second president Robert Kocharyan , Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, and their allies. Pashinyan was also critical of Armenia's close relations with Russia, and promoted establishing closer relations with Turkey instead. He led a minor opposition party in

14872-491: The next day when Ter-Petrosyan himself negotiated with Afyan. On 30 October Pashinyan was charged with participation in mass riots and "violence against a representative of the authorities." Pashinyan did not show up to the police station. His house was searched by police officers who did not find him there. Pashinyan claimed the increasing attacks on opposition activists was due to the growing number of Ter-Petrosyan supporters. He said, "The authorities realize that events are taking

15015-409: The northeastern part of the country. In 1930, it became the centre of the newly formed Ijevan raion. The first major plan of the town was adopted in 1948, revised later in 1967. In 1951, the Ijevan Wine-Brandy Factory was opened, followed by the rug and carpet factory in opened in 1959–65. With the gradual development of the industrial sector, Ijevan was given the status of a town in 1961. In 1970, it

15158-403: The now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged: Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of

15301-541: The official status of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is the official variant used, making it the prestige variety while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, Western Armenian is perceived by some as a mere dialect. Armenian was also official in the Republic of Artsakh . It is recognized as an official language of the Eurasian Economic Union although Russian

15444-639: The oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is called Mehenagir . The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the Caucasian Albanian alphabet . While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that

15587-483: The overall vote, far below the threshold. Following the election, Pashinyan held a two-day sit-in at Freedom Square to denounce the election results as rigged and demand the invalidation of its results. Pashinyan left the Constitutional Court in protest on 7 June, claiming judicial farce and prejudgment. In July 2007, Pashinyan stated that the opposition can prevent vote rigging and defeat Serzh Sargsyan,

15730-483: The parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine (1936). Georg Renatus Solta (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek

15873-557: The parliament to publicize the moment further. It was called a "failed show" by the Republican party speaker. Armenian language Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Armenian

16016-695: The party Civil Contract . Along with two other opposition parties, Pashinyan formed the Way Out Alliance which garnered almost 8% of the vote in the 2017 parliamentary election . He was the leader of the 2018 Armenian revolution which forced Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and his government to resign. He was elected acting prime minister by parliament on 8 May 2018 and won snap parliamentary elections in December 2018. Pashinyan's victory had originally been heralded by some observers as an improvement in democracy, while others have criticized Pashinyan as

16159-413: The past five years. A court ruled that there was no proof Pashinyan had left Armenia during his time in hiding. He was registered as a candidate on 5 December. The Armenian National Congress and Ter-Petrosyan campaigned extensively for Pashinyan. Youth activists of the ANC were beaten up while campaigning. The election, held on 10 January 2010, returned a low turnout of just 24%. Pashinyan garnered 39% of

16302-407: The path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards. After World War I ,

16445-524: The people. They will face trial and made responsible for the murders of 1 March 2008, and for oppressing their people." During the 2012 parliamentary election Pashinyan was a candidate both in the party-list (#7) of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) and as a single-constituency candidate in the 7th electoral district, which covered Yerevan's Malatia-Sebastia District . During the election Pashinyan notably called on voters to wage

16588-570: The population. The short-lived First Republic of Armenia declared Armenian its official language. Eastern Armenian was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also russified . The current Republic of Armenia upholds

16731-438: The promise. Way Out alliance came in second, garnering 21% of the vote. As early as September 2017, Pashinyan declared that he found it unacceptable for Serzh Sargsyan to extend his rule as prime minister. He believed that hundreds of thousands of people would take it to the streets against Sargsyan's prolonged rule. Pashinyan assured that there is a political force that will "turn the people's will into political reality." Despite

16874-565: The protests were dispersed by security forces on March 1, resulting in the deaths of ten people. Convicted of organizing mass disorders, he went into hiding until mid-2009. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the protests. He was released in May 2011 as part of a general amnesty. He was elected to parliament from Ter-Petrosyan's broad opposition coalition, the Armenian National Congress , in 2012. Pashinyan later distanced himself from Ter-Petrosyan on political grounds, establishing

17017-546: The rally: "We have come to this square to say that we are the masters of our country, the masters of its misery and splendor, its heroism and recklessness, its victories and defeats. What we want is a homeland with citizens, a homeland which is able to protect its citizens." On 9 May 2007, three days before the election, the Impeachment Union, along with the Hanrapetutyun Party and the New Times party, organized

17160-668: The reconstruction of a former cultural centre built by the Soviets in the 1950s. The project was financed by the US-based Armenian benefactors Kevork and Berjuhi Nersesian from Boston . The other church of the town known as the Holy Saviour's was consecrated in 2012. Financed by the Ukraine-based Ghazaryan family who are natives of Ijevan, the church was built between 2009 and 2012 on the foundations of

17303-436: The representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces". Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family , ancestral to

17446-519: The residents of Ijevan started to call their town "the city of 100 sculptures". Currently, there are 116 sculptures erected at Ijevan sculptures garden at the centre of the town. The ethnographic museum of Ijevan was reopened in 1999 while the art gallery was renovated in 2003. The town is also served by a house of culture, a school of music, a school of arts, and an art gallery. Ijevan is a major centre for traditional Armenian handmade rugs and carpets. The town has its local "Ijevan TV" station. Ijevan

17589-466: The results which "on the whole formed as a result of voting by the citizens who took part in the elections." However, the party's official statement accused the ruling Republican party in using "illegal financial and administrative pressures" during the campaign. The statement said that "Tens of thousands of citizens were involved in the chain of vote bribe distribution and acceptance and there is an atmosphere of public tolerance towards that phenomenon, which

17732-517: The riots in front of the city hall that resulted in casualties" and accused him of "purposeful manipulation of the masses." Pashinyan went into hiding on 2 March as the violent post-election demonstrations were dispersed by government forces, resulting in the deaths of ten people. In March 2018 he publicly announced the details of his escape from the scene of demonstrations in the night of 2 March 2008. He spent time at different locations (mostly houses of friends and acquaintances) in Yerevan and never left

17875-528: The road from Tbilisi to Dvin . The remains of a medieval caravanserai stands on the banks of Aghstev river on a site called Hamam-Jala. Under the Persian rule who had gained control over the Eastern Armenian territories since 1501–02, the village of Karavansara was founded during the 1780s. The territories of present-day Lori and Tavush along with the neighboring Georgia , became part of

18018-400: The self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh and its neighbor Azerbaijan . The war, which was ended after 44 days of fighting by a trilateral ceasefire agreement signed by Pashinyan on 9 November 2020, resulted in significant human, material and territorial losses for the Armenian side. Pashinyan's government was criticized within Armenia for its management of the war. Following the war, Pashinyan

18161-468: The similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the Iranian language family . The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann (1875) used the comparative method to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian vocabulary . He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded

18304-519: The terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo sound changes characteristic of the development of Armenian from Proto-Indo-European , he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the Proto-Armenian language stage. Contemporary linguists, such as Hrach Martirosyan , have rejected many of

18447-402: The violations of prison regulations including several attempts to incite other prisoners and asked that journalists not make a political issue out of standard discipline for breaking prison rules, they stated that he was allowed to use the phone and to contact his advocates outside the prison which he had done on several occasions. In late October 2009, Pashinyan declared his intention to run for

18590-508: The violence: "Several participants led by Nikol Pashinyan provoked an incident with police, dashed to the National Security Service entrance, and when police tried to stop their movement, scuffles broke out." The police's actions were condemned by other opposition parties. Members of the opposition later moved to Freedom Square where they held a demonstration. Impeachment garnered 17,475 votes and came in 13th, with 1.28% of

18733-430: The votes (4,650), while the pro-government candidate Ara Simonyan won some 59% (6,850). Pashinyan ally and former MP Petros Makeyan and two others were beaten and hospitalized during the election. The ANC condemned the election results by citing numerous irregularities. A similar opinion was stated by the U.S. embassy. Pashinyan was released from Artik prison on 27 May 2011 in accordance with the general amnesty declared by

18876-495: Was accused of being a traitor and faced protests and calls for his resignation. Despite the protests and a declaration by 40 high-ranking military officers calling for his resignation (which Pashinyan described as a coup attempt), Pashinyan resisted calls to hand over political power. On 25 April 2021, Pashinyan announced his formal resignation to allow snap elections to be held in June, although he remained as acting prime minister in

19019-613: Was affiliated with the Nor Ughi ("New Path") opposition party led by former Minister of Education Ashot Bleyan . During the 1999 parliamentary election Oragir was highly critical of Country of Legality , the party of Serzh Sargsyan , then Minister of the Interior and National Security, and the Right and Accord Bloc led by Artashes Geghamyan and supported by Samvel Babayan , the powerful defense minister of Nagorno-Karabakh . During

19162-466: Was again detained on 23 October along with other activists. They were taken into custody after a brawl with policemen led by Aleksandr Afyan, deputy chief of the Yerevan police, during a march through the center of Yerevan to inform passersby about Ter-Petrosyan's upcoming rally. Police accused opposition activists of disrupting public order, while Pashinyan stated that Afyan "behaved like a street criminal." Pashinyan, along with other activists, were released

19305-414: Was beaten by a "gang" of dozen men who were reportedly led by a local businessman who was angered by an article in Haykakan Zhamanak that accused him of corruption. In March 2002, Pashinyan was charged with slandering Hovhannes Yeritsyan, head of the civil aviation agency of Armenia, for allegedly insulting the latter in the 6 November 2001 issue of the newspaper, which featured a photo of Yeritsyan with

19448-521: Was hit by a Molotov cocktail or an improvised explosive device . A police inquiry immediately pointed to an apparent "breakdown of the car battery 's wires." Tsarukyan denied any involvement. Instead, he stated: "In order to boost their standing people may say different unnecessary things." During the 1998 Armenian presidential election , Pashinyan was a member of the election office of presidential candidate Ashot Bleyan, former Minister of Education and Science under president Levon Ter-Petrosyan . Bleyan

19591-529: Was instrumental in proving his role in organising the mass disorders." Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for Armenia, John Prescott and Axel Fischer stated in their 2011 report Pashinyan's "continued detention is also highly problematic." They stated, "Both the grounds for Mr Pashinyan's conviction, as well as the manner in which his sentence was handed out, raise very serious questions." In December 2010 dozens of members of

19734-470: Was not accepted by Bright Armenia and the Hanrapetutyun Party. Pashinyan's partners were skeptical that the protest would attract large enough crowds. Edmon Marukyan went as far as saying Pashinyan was seeking "short-term glory," and instead advocated acquiring political leverage to keep Sargsyan's government in check. Nevertheless, Civil Contract announced on 20 March 2018 that they will launch

19877-547: Was put out by firefighters. Pashinyan claimed it was an attack perpetrated by Gagik Tsarukyan , an oligarch and MP close to president Robert Kocharyan who was deputy chairman of the Armenian Olympic Committee (AOC). He suggested it may have been a retaliation for a "derogatory cartoon" deploring the poor performance of Armenian athletes at the Athens Olympics . The newspaper staff believed it

20020-405: Was situated between Proto-Greek ( centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian ( satem subgroup). Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to Balto-Slavic languages . The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century,

20163-682: Was the Armenian Alexander Romance . The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages , particularly Parthian ; its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by language contact with Parthian, but to a lesser extent. Contact with Greek, Persian , and Syriac also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since

20306-610: Was the leader of the Nor Ughi ("New Path") Party, which had split from (HHSh), the ruling party of Ter-Petrosyan. Pashinyan entered the political scene prior to the 2007 parliamentary election . He led the Impeachment Union , an electoral bloc consisting of his political organization named "Alternative" and the Democratic Fatherland and Conservative parties, led by former HHSh MP Petros Makeyan and Mikayel Hayrapetyan, respectively. The primary policy goal of

20449-586: Was turned into a city of republican sub-ordination of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic . Following the independence of Armenia in 1991, Ijevan became the provincial centre of the newly founded Tavush Province as per the administrative reforms of 1995. Surrounded by the Gugark Mountains, Ijevan is situated in the valley of Aghstev river at an average height of 755 meters above sea level. The surrounding mountains are covered with thick forests, turning into alpine meadows in some areas. Ijevan

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