Strong Armenia
Political alliance in Armenia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Strong Armenia (Armenian: Ուժեղ Հայաստան, romanized: Uzhegh Hayastan) is an Armenian political party established in 2025 by businessman Samvel Karapetyan after the violent expulsion of all ethnic Armenians from their homeland in Karabakh by Azerbaijan and the moves of the Armenian government towards Azerbaijan on potential recognition of the loss of Artsakh that also involved giving over land in UN-recognized Armenia.[2] The party was originally called the Pro-Armenian party before renaming in January 2026.[3] Karapetyan was elected chairman of the party on 11 February 2026.[4]
Strong Armenia Ուժեղ Հայաստան | |
|---|---|
| |
| Leader | Samvel Karapetyan |
| Founded | 8 December 2025 |
| Headquarters | Yerevan, Armenia |
| Ideology | Pro-Church |
| Political position | Big tent[1] |
| National Assembly | 0 / 107 |
| Website | |
| strongarmenia | |
Background
From April to June 2024, the Armenian Apostolic Church became directly involved in the nations politics when Primate Bagrat Galstanyan openly called for regime change against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan seeking to see himself installed in his place with the backing of Patriarch Garegin II.[5][6] Galstanyan argued that attempted western alignment was unnatural and that Armenia's place was with the former USSR states, among the CSTO and EEU.[6] During the height of the protests, as more and more clergy joined, Pashinyan alleged that Garegin II had broken his oaths of chastity and sired a secret child out of wedlock and was therefore not a valid Patriarch.[7] In response, Garegin's spokesmen Father Zareh Ashuryan called Pashinyan circumcised and in violation of his baptismal vows, and Pashinyan responded by offering to show Garegin that he wasn't circumcised in person.[8] Despite the exchange earning the ire of social conservatives in society, the protests fizzled out and failed in its objective of pressuring Pashinyan to either resign or call a fresh election with Galstanyan stating he would transform his support base into a "new concept."[9][6]
Samvel Karapetyan is an Armenian-born Russian oligarch and billionaire that amassed a fortune in the Russian gas industry and real estate who, in 2018, was named by the US Treasury Department in the Putin list, consisting of 114 senior political figures and 96 oligarchs, all of whom rose to prominence under Putin's leadership.[10][11] In April 2021, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan opened a criminal case against Karapetyan for allegedly illegally transporting weapons to Nagorno-Karabakh, which Karapetyan denied.[12]
On June 25, 2025, both Karapetyan and Galstanyan were arrested for calling for a coup d'état and plotting a coup d'état respectively.[6] The National Security Service (NSS) alleged that Galstanyan was later notified that he legally cannot hold public office in Armenia due to his dual Canadian citizenship.[6] He then began to coordinate a group of supporters to protest against the government giving up territory to Azerbaijan in a peace agreement, and also called for toppling the government.[13] By the time of the arrests, this group had numbered ~1,000 individuals, mainly former soldiers and police officers.[6] These followers were divided into strike groups assigned to a specific task, such as blocking roads or shutting down the internet.[6] For his role, Karapetyan was arrested for publicly voicing support of the alleged coup shortly after Galstanyan was arrested.[6]
History
On 8 December 2025, this party was founded by Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan under the name "Pro-Armenian" party, which later changed to "Strong Armenia" on 16 January 2026.[3]
On 19 January 2026, spokesperson Marianna Ghahramanyan announced that the party's organization is in its final stages, and that the party is expected to develop its agenda and vision in the near future.[3]
On 11 February 2026, the party held a congress to elect a new president and council, with Samvel Karapetyan unanimously elected as party chairman.[14] The following day, the party held a presentation at the Karen Demirchyan Complex.[15] During the presentation, the party announced its candidates for the 2026 parliamentary election, where Karapetyan was announced as the party's candidate for prime minister, and that Narek Karapetyan will lead the party list.[4]
On 14 April 2026, the Anti-Corruption Committee arrested two party members and accused them of pre-election bribery by paying Armenian residents "under the guise of charity".[16] Then on 16 April, another 14 party members were also arrested on similar charges.[17]
Platform
The party's platform will focus on the protecting businesses from being targeted for their political views, most notably against party leader Samvel Karapetyan. The party is critical of the "poor leadership" that led to the defeat of Artsakh in the 2020 Karabakh war, and supports more investment in national defense.[2]
The party calls for ensuring the protection of Armenia's independence without submitting to economic and cultural coercion from Turkey.[18] The party also supports closer ties with Russia to avoid turning Armenia into "an arena of geopolitical confrontation".[19]