Pashinyan’s war on the Armenian Church signals a deepening national crisis
By Lucas Leiroz | Strategic Culture Foundation | October 22, 2025
The authoritarian spiral of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has entered a dangerous new phase: a systematic campaign of repression against the Armenian Apostolic Church — one of the world’s oldest Christian institutions and the cornerstone of the Armenian national identity. In a desperate attempt to consolidate his crumbling political legitimacy and strengthen alignment with the Western liberal order, Pashinyan has now turned his sights on religious leaders and sacred institutions, undermining the spiritual and historical foundations of the Armenian state.
In recent weeks, state-led persecution of religious figures has reached alarming levels. The arrest of Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, head of the Diocese of Aragatsotn, marks just the most visible example of a broader, coordinated crackdown. Alongside him, five other clergymen were detained on vague and politically motivated charges, including “fraud” and “abuse of power.” The allegations, notably lacking in credible legal grounding, reveal the instrumental nature of the operation — a political purge disguised as law enforcement.
This assault on the Church is not an isolated event. Months earlier, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly “inciting a coup” — a vague accusation increasingly used as a catch-all label for dissent. What is unfolding appears to be a deliberate campaign to silence religious voices that challenge the government’s ideological alignment with Brussels and its Western patrons.
Behind Pashinyan’s rhetoric of “fighting corruption” and “institutional modernization” lies a far darker reality: the calculated dismantling of Armenia’s last bastion of traditional resistance. With roots tracing back to the early 4th century, the Armenian Apostolic Church is not merely a religious authority — it is a symbol of moral unity, historical continuity, and cultural cohesion. For many Armenians, the Church is the guardian of the national soul — a role that naturally places it in opposition to a regime advancing policies that many view as anti-national and externally imposed.
The conflict is also ideological in nature. By attempting to reshape Armenian society in accordance with secularist, progressive values favored by the European Union, Pashinyan inevitably comes into conflict with the conservative and patriotic worldview still prevalent among the Armenian population. In such a context, any institution that resists this forced social transformation becomes a target — and the Church, as the most prominent voice of cultural continuity, is perceived as the primary obstacle.
The deeper backdrop to this crackdown is the widespread public disillusionment with Pashinyan’s leadership following the catastrophic military defeat to Azerbaijan and the total loss of Nagorno-Karabakh. The dissolution of the Republic of Artsakh not only represented a strategic failure but served as a powerful symbol of Pashinyan’s political project collapsing under its own contradictions. In the wake of that defeat, his administration has increasingly relied on authoritarian tactics and scapegoating internal “enemies” — including the conservative opposition and the Church — in an effort to deflect from its failures.
The arrest of Russian-Armenian businessman and vocal government critic Samvel Karapetyan further illustrates the broader context of political persecution. However, unlike typical political repression, the offensive against the clergy reveals something deeper: a systematic attempt to reengineer the Armenian national identity along foreign lines, disregarding the popular will and erasing centuries of religious and cultural continuity.
The mass demonstrations erupting in Yerevan since October 18 are a direct response to this rupture. Opposition movements like Mer Dzevov (Our Way) are channeling a growing national anger that transcends the arrests of individual figures — it reflects a public rejection of a government that has positioned itself as an adversary of Armenia’s historical institutions and spiritual heritage. The presence of thousands in the streets, demanding not only the release of political and religious prisoners but also the end of state hostility toward the Church, suggests that the divide between the regime and the population may now be irreversible.
Pashinyan continues to rely on international backers to maintain his grip on power, but even his Western sponsors may soon realize they cannot indefinitely prop up a government that has lost all domestic legitimacy. Meanwhile, the Armenian Apostolic Church retains the moral authority of history, faith, and national identity — forces that no imported ideology or political alliance can replace.
If internal stability is to be preserved, the Armenian government must immediately halt its campaign against the clergy and initiate dialogue with the legitimate representatives of civil and religious society. Failing to do so risks not only further loss of authority but a slide into institutional collapse — with unpredictable and potentially irreversible consequences.
The forced replacement of Armenian heritage with foreign ideological frameworks is a blueprint for national ruin — and in attacking the Church, Pashinyan is not merely repressing dissent; he is waging war on the very soul of his people.
Australian statement attempts to cover up military aircraft’s illegal intrusion into China’s territorial airspace: MOD
By Liu Xuanzun, Liang Rui and Guo Yuandan | Global Times | October 22, 2025
Australia’s accusation of a Chinese warplane’s interaction with an Australian military aircraft in the South China Sea is an attempt to cover up its illegal intrusion into China’s territorial airspace, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, stressing that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command’s operations to resolutely stop and expel the Australian aircraft are lawful and professional.
In response to Australian Defense Ministry’s recent statement claiming that an Australian military P-8A patrol aircraft conducting a patrol in the South China Sea experienced an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction” with Chinese military aircraft on Sunday, with the Chinese aircraft releasing flares that “posed a risk” to the Australian aircraft and its personnel, Jiang Bin, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, said on Wednesday that the Australian statement confounded right and wrong and misplaced the blame to the Chinese side, attempting to cover up its serious misconduct of sending a military aircraft to illegally intrude into China’s territorial airspace. “We express strong dissatisfaction with this and have made stern representations to the Australian side,” he said.
The troops of the PLA Southern Theater Command organized forces to resolutely stop and expel the Australian military aircraft that intruded China’s territorial airspace over Xisha. The relevant operations are lawful, professional, up to standard and restrained. Australia made infringements and provocations against China, but falsely accused China’s legitimate rights-protecting actions as “unsafe” and “unprofessional.” Such fallacy finds no market anywhere, Jiang said.
“We urge Australia to immediately stop infringement and provocation and stop hyping up the matter, and strictly restrain its maritime and air force military operations to avoid undermining the bilateral relations and military relations between the two countries,” Jiang said, noting that the Chinese military will continue to take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and firmly uphold peace and stability in the region.
Jiang’s remarks came after Senior Colonel Li Jianjian, spokesperson for the air force of the PLA Southern Theater Command, said in a statement on Monday that an Australian P-8A aircraft on Sunday intruded into China’s territorial airspace over the Xisha Qundao without the approval of the Chinese government, and the PLA Southern Theater Command organized naval and air forces to track and monitor the Australian aircraft, take powerful countermeasures and warn it away in accordance with laws and regulations
The Australian move seriously violated China’s sovereignty and could have easily triggered maritime and aerial accidents, Li said.
“We urge the Australian side to immediately stop such provocative moves. The troops in the theater are on high alert at all times to resolutely defend national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the region,” Li said.
Chinese military affairs expert Wang Yunfei told the Global Times that Australia is shifting the blame to the victim. He noted that it is the Australian side that has sent a military aircraft to China’s doorstep in the South China Sea and intruded into China’s territorial airspace, while the Chinese side’s countermeasures are legitimate and professional.
Zhang Junshe, another Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the Chinese military’s countermeasures against the Australian aircraft that intruded into Chinese territorial airspace of Xisha Qundao have been professional, up to standard, and restrained. However, Australia should not mistake China’s restraint as weakness. He said that “If the Australian military repeatedly engages in deliberate provocations and causes any maritime or aerial incident between the Chinese and Australian militaries, Australia shall bear full responsibility for all consequences.”
Hungary blasts ‘fake news’ about Putin-Trump meeting
RT | October 22, 2025
The Western media will continue to spread “fake news” aimed at derailing a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned.
Several outlets reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed White House officials, that plans for the meeting in the Hungarian capital had been put “on hold.”
Responding to the claims, Szijjarto took to X to warn that from the moment the meeting was announced following a phone call between Putin and Trump last week, “it was obvious that many would do everything possible to stop it from happening.”
“The pro-war political elite and their media always behave this way before events that could prove decisive between war and peace,” he added.
According to the foreign minister, it will be the same in the run-up to the talks in Budapest. “Until the summit actually takes place, expect a wave of leaks, fake news, and statements claiming that it will not happen,” Szijjarto said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov had earlier called the claims “infodumps,” intended to disrupt diplomatic progress on settling the Ukraine conflict. “EU and NATO countries are seeking to torpedo everything,” he said.
EU officials have publicly claimed that they would welcome another Putin-Trump meeting. However, El Pais has reported that behind closed doors, Brussels – which continues to support Ukraine and urge increased pressure on Russia – views the summit as a “political nightmare.”
On Tuesday, the Financial Times cited an unnamed EU diplomat as saying “no one likes it,” and that “we are all grinning through our teeth whilst saying this is fine.”
In the same article, the FT claimed that the talks in the Hungarian capital have been “canceled,” and that a White House official has said there are no plans for a Putin-Trump summit “in the immediate future.”
Russian presidential aide Kirill Dmitriev rejected the report, accusing the FT of “twisting” the comments by its source. “Preparations continue” for the Budapest summit, he wrote on X.
NATO States Say New Weapons Systems Must Be Tested in Ukraine
By Kyle Anzalone | The Libertarian Institute | October 21, 2025
The military leaders of Nordic members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said they are only interested in purchasing weapons that have undergone battlefield testing in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting last week, “For new [supply] chains and new technologies, I’m never going to buy anything that hasn’t worked in Ukraine,” Maj. Gen. Peter Harling Boysen, chief of the Royal Danish Army, explained.
During the panel discussion on Northern Europe, Lt. Gen. Pasi Välimäki, Commander of the Finnish Army, said demonstrations are nice, but weapons that are tested in Ukraine are proven to work.
Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Western and Ukrainian leaders have touted the war as an opportunity for NATO weapon systems to be utilized in battle to test their effectiveness in combat against Russian forces.
In September, Alexus Grynkewich, a US Air Force general who serves as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, urged more weapons makers to test their military equipment in Ukraine.
Latvian Secretary of the National Security Council Aivars Puriņš said that throughout the war in Ukraine, Western states have discovered that weapons platforms are not functional in actual conflict.
“We have had too many stories, I think, over these years in Ukraine [where] the best technology solutions were deployed, and suddenly they didn’t work as they were kind of supposed to be and that’s the logic we should not be repeating,” he told Breaking Defense.
NATO has viewed the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to weaken Russia. Using Kiev as a proxy has come at a huge cost to Ukrainians. Moscow offered to end the war within a few months and allow Kiev to keep all of Ukraine except the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
However, President Zelensky’s Western backers urged him to reject the Russian proposal and offered to flood Kiev with billions in aid and arms.
Ukraine has lost at least hundreds of thousands of troops, millions of people have been displaced, and Russia is now demanding Kiev cede at least 20% of its territory.
Over 20,000 Students Killed, 31,000 Injured Since October 7, 2023
IMEMC | October 21, 2025
The Palestinian Ministry of Education announced Tuesday that more than 20,000 students have been killed and over 31,000 injured since the onset of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and serious escalation in the occupied West Bank, which began on October 7, 2023.
According to the ministry’s statement:
- Student casualties:
- In Gaza, 19,910 students were killed and 30,097 injured.
- In the West Bank, 148 students were killed, 1,042 injured, and 846 detained.
- Educational staff:
- 1,037 teachers and administrators were killed.
- 4,740 were injured across both regions.
- Over 228 were detained in the West Bank.
- Destruction of educational infrastructure:
- 179 public schools in Gaza were completely destroyed.
- 63 university buildings were reduced to rubble.
- 118 public schools and more than 100 UNRWA-run schools were bombed or vandalized.
- 30 schools—along with their students and staff—were entirely erased from the educational registry.
- West Bank damage:
Israeli forces demolished Ameera Elementary School in Yatta (Hebron) and Aqaba Elementary School in Tubas. Eight universities and colleges were repeatedly raided and damaged.
The ministry emphasized that the scale of destruction has not only disrupted education but has also targeted the very foundations of Palestinian academic life.
On the twelfth day of the ceasefire following 735 days of genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis remains dire, Gaza faces dire humanitarian conditions amidst ongoing Israeli violations and limited amount of humanitarian aid.
On Sunday, Israeli forces launched a wave of airstrikes across Gaza, killing at least 44 Palestinians and wounding many more.
Despite the ceasefire, Israeli forces continue to enforce a “fire control zone” up to 1.5 kilometers inside Gaza, preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes.
The situation remains volatile, and the ceasefire hangs by a thread. As international actors scramble to preserve it, the people of Gaza continue to suffer under the weight of destruction, displacement, and grief.
The overall toll of Israel’s genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has now reached more than 68,159 Palestinians killed and 170,203 wounded, the vast majority of them children, women, and the elderly. These figures reflect the scale of devastation and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
Investigation reveals Israeli commander behind killing of Palestinian child Hind Rajab, paramedics
The Cradle | October 21, 2025
A new Al Jazeera documentary released on 20 October has identified the Israeli soldiers and officers who were directly involved in the killing of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and her family last year, as well as the rescue workers who were dispatched to the scene.
The investigation reveals the involvement of the Israeli army’s 401st Brigade. This includes Lt. Col. Daniel Ela and field officer Maj. Shon Glass.
According to the report, Glass was the one who ordered Israeli troops to fire the tank shells that killed the Rajab family in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa. He also ordered the attack on the ambulance teams sent to the rescue.
The soldiers belong to a unit calling itself the “Vampire Empire.”
Evidence analyzed by Forensic Architecture, as well as satellite imagery, found that their tank was within around 400 meters of the car carrying Hind and her family. The evidence also ruled out any crossfire.
A Forensic Architecture investigation from last year confirmed the Israeli army’s responsibility for the massacre of the Rajab family, refuting Israel’s denial that its forces were in the area and at the time of the killings.
Hind and her relatives were killed on 29 January 2024 while fleeing their neighborhood in Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for the area. Their bodies were finally recovered 12 days later.
After the Israeli tank gunner killed Hind’s 15-year-old cousin Layan, Hind was the only person left alive in the car. PCRS dispatchers sent paramedics Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun in an ambulance to rescue her. When they reached the site of Hind’s car, they were immediately killed.
Over 330 bullets were fired at the car carrying the Palestinian family.
The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), named after the six-year-old victim, was founded months later and launched a global effort to legally pursue Israeli soldiers involved in war crimes in Gaza.
HRF has announced submitting a full legal case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Glass, Ella, and dual Israeli-Argentinian citizen Itai Shukerkov, who took part in killing Hind.
Another 21 soldiers “who directly participated in or facilitated the attack” are also being pursued, HRF said.
“The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC to … expand the investigation to include the Vampire Empire Company, the 52nd Armored Battalion, and the 401st Armored Brigade and issue arrest warrants for the 24 identified perpetrators,” HRF said.
Natacha Bracq, Head of Litigation at HRF, said the submission to the ICC “establishes a direct chain of command, operational control, and deliberate intent.”
The NGO also took part in the Al Jazeera documentary.
The new investigation confirms that Tel Aviv has launched an organized effort to smuggle wanted soldiers out of foreign countries via private planes and military bases, before they can face legal action.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has helped soldiers vacationing abroad escape legal action.
According to HRF, over 1,000 legal cases against Israeli soldiers and officers have been filed across the world.
Al Jazeera has also revealed a document containing a list of the names of nearly 30,000 Israeli Air Force pilots and personnel who took part in military operations during the genocide in Gaza.
‘Welcome to the war casino’: veteran German politician ridicules conscription plans
RT | October 21, 2025
Veteran German politician Sahra Wagenknecht has condemned Berlin’s plans to boost its army through a lottery-based recruitment system, ridiculing what she described as the government’s obsession with an imagined war against Russia.
German lawmakers have been debating ways to strengthen the Bundeswehr as Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called to turn it into the “strongest conventional army” in Europe. The government aims to expand the country’s armed forces by around 80,000 servicemen. Some have proposed activating a lottery-based selection system if not enough people volunteer. Continued shortfalls could trigger the return of compulsory conscription, which has been suspended since 2011.
In a TikTok post on Tuesday, Wagenknecht, who previously served as a member of the European Parliament and sat in the Bundestag from 2009 until earlier this year, mocked the lottery idea.
“Welcome to the war casino where the stakes are your life,” she said, going on to criticize the Merz government’s rhetoric that Germany is partly “at war” with Russia and its calls for an army “ready for battle, that prevails, that wins.”
“I have to be honest, this is all just too much to handle. Maybe someone should explain to our great chancellor that Russia is a nuclear power and a war with a nuclear power will not be decided by the number of soldiers,” she said.
She further stressed that the hysteria over a supposed Russian offensive was absurd given that NATO has three times more soldiers than Russia. “With these power dynamics, is Putin supposed to roll over us if we don’t conscript 80,000 young people for military service? They really want to sell us for fools,” Wagenknecht said.
Russia has consistently denied any hostile intent toward NATO or EU members and has described Western alarm over an impending war as baseless propaganda. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused European governments of pursuing dangerous militarization and claimed Berlin is “slipping into a Fourth Reich” through its rearmament drive.
Nearly half of Democrats reject AIPAC-backed candidates, poll finds
Al Mayadeen | October 21, 2025
As discontent with “Israel” deepens among Democratic voters after more than two years of genocide in Gaza, a new internal poll suggests that financial support from the pro-“Israel” lobby may now be a liability rather than an asset for Democrats competing in primary races.
The survey, conducted by Democratic firm Upswing Strategies, polled 850 registered Democratic voters across competitive congressional districts in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Participants were asked about their views on the “Israel”-Palestine struggle and their perceptions of lobbying groups such as the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
AIPAC, one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying groups, backed 152 Democratic candidates during the 2024 elections, spending more than $28 million, and played a significant role in unseating several progressive lawmakers, including former Representatives Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
48% of Democratic voters ‘could never support’ AIPAC-funded congressional candidate
According to the Upswing poll, nearly half of Democratic voters (48%) in these battleground districts said they “could never support” a congressional candidate funded by AIPAC or similar pro-“Israel” organizations. More than a quarter (28%) expressed this view strongly. By contrast, only 40% said they “could see” themselves supporting a candidate linked to AIPAC if they agreed with their positions on other issues, though only 10% felt that way strongly.
The poll’s findings, shared on social media by Illinois reporter Matthew Eadie of Evanston Now, have reportedly circulated among Democratic campaign operatives in multiple competitive districts since early September. Eadie noted that the results are “circulating among Democrats in over a half-dozen competitive primaries in mostly Illinois.”
With Senator Dick Durbin’s seat opening in 2026, several Illinois representatives are expected to run, setting off a scramble for their House seats, including some who have enjoyed long-standing support from pro-“Israel” donors. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, for instance, received more than $63,000 from pro-“Israel” groups in the 2023–24 cycle and roughly $269,000 since his first campaign in 2016. Representative Robin Kelly has taken in about $109,000 from such groups since 2012.
Half a century of political norms unravels before our eyes
Pro-“Israel” organizations are also expected to once again target the Chicago-based district of Representative Danny Davis, who has repeatedly faced primary challenges from progressive activist Kina Collins. During the 2024 race, AIPAC’s affiliated political action committee, the United Democracy Project, spent roughly half a million dollars on ads attacking Collins, who had described “Israel’s” blockade of Gaza as a “war crime”.
Another Illinois progressive, Representative Delia Ramirez, who has called “Israel’s” campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and introduced legislation to suspend US military aid to “Israel”, was the target of over $157,000 in digital ads and mailers from the Democratic Majority for “Israel” in 2022. However, by 2024, pro-“Israel” groups opted not to challenge her re-election bid, calculating that her local support base was too strong.
Similar dynamics are unfolding beyond Illinois. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a long-time AIPAC target, faced no major challenge in 2024 due to her enduring popularity. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Representative Haley Stevens, one of the House’s most outspoken defenders of “Israel”, received more than $5.4 million from AIPAC and allied groups in 2024 to help defeat progressive Jewish incumbent Andy Levin, whom AIPAC’s former president once labeled “the most corrosive member of Congress to the US-Israel relationship.”
Although Upswing’s data did not specify district-level results, the findings point to a significant mood shift among Democratic voters. In an era defined by “Israel’s” genocide in Gaza, support from the “Israel” lobby appears increasingly out of step with the Democratic base. The changing tide was illustrated recently by Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who announced he would return AIPAC donations, saying, “I’m a friend of Israel, but not of its current government, and AIPAC’s mission is to back that government.”
The poll also reinforced broader trends showing a collapse in sympathy for “Israel” among Democrats. Respondents expressed overwhelmingly positive views of Palestine and international organizations such as the United Nations and Doctors Without Borders, while describing “Israel” and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in sharply negative terms.
While issues like accountability for President Donald Trump and cost-of-living concerns remained top priorities, 53% of Democratic voters rated “putting pressure on the Israeli government to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza” as a 10 out of 10 in importance, and 72% rated it at least an 8.
Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, summarized the shift bluntly, saying, “It’s astonishing how quickly the politics are moving.” He added that Democrats “don’t fear AIPAC. They fear being associated with AIPAC. The political rules of the last almost half-century are changing before our eyes.”
Repeating baseless, meddlesome remarks won’t solve anything: Iran to Poland
Press TV | October 21, 2025
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has hit back at Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski over his “baseless claims and meddlesome remarks” against the Islamic Republic.
Araghchi made the comments in Polish on X, one day after Sikorski alleged that Iran was selling drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
The top Iranian diplomat said that in an earlier X post, he had invited Sikorski to a substantive dialogue and exchange of documents to clarify facts following the display of a drone in the British Parliament, falsely and maliciously attributed to Iran.
“Avoiding responses, repeating baseless claims, and making meddlesome remarks will not solve the problem,” he added.
Araghchi also referred to Iran’s hospitality towards the Poles during the hard times of World War II, with the country providing shelter to over 100,000 Polish people and helping them form their own army.
“The friendship between the people of Iran and Poland was proven in challenging times, and it is our duty to protect this historical and cultural heritage,” he said.
He said the Iranian nation traces its roots to a glorious and significant past and that it will build its future on the path of progress and prosperity.
On October 14, Sikorski participated in an anti-Iran presentation at the UK Parliament in cooperation with a US-Israeli-affiliated group, displaying the wreckage of what they claimed to be an Iranian-made drone used by Russia in its war in Ukraine.
Iran summoned Poland’s chargé d’affaires in Tehran to protest Sikorski’s involvement in the anti-Iran event.
Araghchi also took to X to say that the “pathetic show” was staged by the Israel lobby and its supporters.
He said certain actors opposed to friendly Iran-Europe relations are creating fabricated narratives inconsistent with the long-standing ties between the two sides, including between Tehran and Warsaw.
Both Iran and Russia have repeatedly rejected allegations that Tehran supplied Moscow with drones, ballistic missiles, and related technology for use in the military campaign in Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly warned against the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, saying it prolongs the conflict.
Armenian opposition mayor detained in government crackdown
RT | October 20, 2025
Armenian law enforcement has detained the mayor of the country’s second-largest city along with several municipal staff and dozens of locals, sparking protests.
Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan and seven others now face corruption charges. The arrests come amid an ongoing political standoff in the country between the government and opposition.
Ghukasyan, elected from the Communist Party of Armenia in April 2025, is a known critic of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s pro-Western foreign policy shift. Pashinyan previously threatened to “throw him out of the politics,” vowing to “resolve” the issue.
Video circulating online showed Ghukasyan being escorted by security forces into a vehicle, reportedly bound for questioning in the capital, Yerevan. When his supporters blocked the exit, armed police used force in an operation involving over 100 officers.
The situation prompted an immediate public backlash, with angry residents gathering outside the city hall, whistling at police and chanting “shame.” Law enforcement effectively locked down the area, blocking streets and dispersing the crowds. Twenty-three people were detained, among them a member of the opposition Mer Dzevov (Our Way) movement, led by jailed businessman Samvel Karapetyan. The movement had expressed unconditional support for Ghukasyan.
Pashinyan has been previously accused of targeting his opponents. In June, Russian-Armenian billionaire Karapetyan was arrested on charges of inciting a coup and money laundering. The businessman had publicly condemned the prime minister’s crackdown on the clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which the government accuses of corruption and political meddling.
Tensions between Pashinyan and the church began in 2020 when the nation’s top cleric, Catholicos Garegin II, called on the prime minister to resign amid mass protests over territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.
Last week, police detained Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, the head of the Diocese of Aragatsotn, and five other clergymen on charges of abuse of power and fraud. Earlier this month, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was sentenced to two years in prison for inciting a coup, a case he described as politically motivated.
Germany on the Geopolitical Stage of the Global South: Between Media Image and Real Capacities
By Ramiz Khodzhatov – New Eastern Outlook – October 21, 2025
The attempts of Friedrich Merz’s government to “relaunch” Germany’s role as a global political actor in the Global South without revising its conceptual foundations risk leaving the country stranded on the margins of international diplomacy – caught between formal participation and substantive isolation.
The Gaza Summit and the New Security Architecture
On October 13, 2025, under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a peace summit on Gaza took place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The event, co-chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump, gathered representatives from over twenty nations to observe and validate the signing of the first phase of the American initiative for conflict resolution. Egypt and the United States, alongside Qatar and Turkey, acted as the principal mediators of the emerging architecture of multilateral diplomacy. Serving both as brokers of the ceasefire and as the de jure guarantors of the “Declaration on Lasting Peace and Prosperity,” they oversaw a framework that encompassed bilateral agreements on the release of hostages and prisoners, coordination of humanitarian aid, and a detailed roadmap for demilitarization and post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza’s infrastructure.
A wave of criticism followed the paradoxical absence of the conflict’s key parties, the Israeli cabinet and Hamas. At the same time, attention focused on the participation of several unorthodox players in the Middle Eastern geopolitical arena, notably the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The German presence drew disproportionate attention due to an evident dissonance between its media portrayal and its actual diplomatic standing. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, standing to the side of the main participants, appeared frozen in an uneasy, almost constrained posture, smiling politely yet refraining from engaging any of the leaders. The image quickly spread through German and international media, sparking debate. This scene became emblematic of Berlin’s uncertain role within the emerging security architecture. The question arises: what position does Germany seek to claim, and why, despite shifting geopolitical realities and the lessons of history, it risks remaining a “paper player,” bereft of real influence or credibility across the Global South and the Middle East?
From “Feminist Foreign Policy” to the Merz Plan
To understand Germany’s current trajectory, one must revisit the recent phase of its foreign policy. Under Chancellor Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, diplomacy was anchored in the doctrine of so-called “feminist foreign policy,” framed as a flagship direction of global engagement. Yet in practice, this approach revealed its conceptual inadequacy. Its normative and universalist foundations clashed with the political cultures and socio-cultural frameworks of the Global South. Gender and humanitarian rhetoric, imported indiscriminately into conflict zones, failed to take root, particularly when juxtaposed with Western double standards evident in the humanitarian catastrophe of Gaza.
Another blow to Berlin’s image came from its insistence on the “green agenda” as an alternative to traditional energy models. Amid a domestic energy crisis, this stance not only weakened Germany’s position in international negotiations but also eroded its reputation as a reliable and autonomous economic actor. To many states of the Global South, German initiatives in climate and energy diplomacy appeared declarative and unsupported by functional mechanisms.
Against this backdrop, Russia’s advocacy of “multipolarity” gained increasing traction, widely perceived as an attractive alternative to the neo-colonial logic of the West. Moscow succeeded in institutionalizing this discourse through frameworks such as BRICS, which evolved into both an economic and symbolic vehicle of a new international subjectivity. Germany and its European partners failed to propose an equivalent model, thereby cementing their peripheral status in dialogue with the Global South.
The Old–New Architecture of Irrelevance
Despite its declining relevance, Berlin continues to undertake institutional steps aimed at restoring its international agency. Notable measures include expanding humanitarian assistance, covering medical support and the establishment of temporary camps for displaced persons—participating in prospective Palestinian self-governance structures, co-organizing an international conference on Gaza’s reconstruction, and devising instruments for monitoring and coordinating humanitarian aid. Germany aspires to act not merely as a donor but as a mediator, presenting itself simultaneously as a humanitarian and political broker.
However, these ambitions collide with structural constraints. Key mechanisms for monitoring, hostage exchange, and aid distribution depend on the consent of regional actors who, tellingly, were absent from the summit. Germany’s declarative and instrumental efforts to secure influence falter against the realities of local political culture, where situational alliances, pragmatism, and realpolitik shape diplomacy far more than normative idealism. Berlin still relies on a logic of moral universalism inherited from previous decades, cloaked in new labels and narratives yet perpetuating the same disconnect between ambition and capability.
This pattern mirrors the systemic flaws observed during Baerbock’s “feminist foreign policy.” The persistent refusal to engage with regional geopolitical realities produces a gap between Germany’s ambitions and its actual leverage. The now-famous image from Sharm el-Sheikh thus becomes a visual metaphor for deeper structural dysfunction: the fragmentation of the Western course, wherein the American line retains strategic dominance while Europe’s voice fades amid inconsistency and moral self-contradiction.
The declarative support for Israel expressed by the Merz cabinet within the Middle East peace process has triggered a crisis of trust toward Germany as a would-be neutral actor. Rooted in the concept of Staatsräson and the moral logic of historical atonement, this stance increasingly contradicts the disposition of public opinion. Recent YouGov data reveal that 62% of Germans consider Israel’s actions in Gaza an act of genocide, a view shared across party lines, including 60% of supporters of Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc. Over two-thirds of the population now hold a negative view of Israel, while sympathizers account for only 19%. Support for Palestinian recognition has climbed to 44%. This gap between domestic consensus and foreign policy undermines the legitimacy of Germany’s global agency and weakens its credibility as an impartial mediator.
Internationally, the erosion of trust is even more pronounced. Since 2023, Germany has increasingly been seen across the Global South and the Middle East as a partisan ally that has abandoned neutrality for rigid pro-Israeli alignment. Decisions such as boosting arms supplies to Tel Aviv and abstaining from U.N. ceasefire resolutions are widely interpreted in Arab and African contexts as emblematic of Western double standards. Meanwhile, as several EU states, including Spain, Ireland, and Norway, have recognized Palestine, Germany finds itself isolated even within Europe. This loss of trust is quantifiable: Arab Barometer surveys show Germany’s favorable rating in the Middle East has plunged from 70% to 35% over just two years.
The position intended to affirm moral leadership has, paradoxically, curtailed Berlin’s diplomatic efficacy. Bereft of real leverage, Germany remains a participant without presence – a formally engaged yet substantively excluded actor on the geopolitical stage of the Global South.
Friedrich Merz’s attempt to “reboot” German foreign policy reveals a structural impasse: institutional innovations without conceptual transformation cannot yield genuine agency. Without a fundamental rethinking of its diplomatic worldview, Germany risks remaining on the periphery of international affairs, caught between symbolic involvement and strategic irrelevance. The image from Sharm el-Sheikh may thus endure as more than a fleeting moment of awkwardness, it embodies Berlin’s broader crisis of orientation in an increasingly multipolar world.
Ramiz Khodzhatov – political scientist, international observer, expert in geopolitics, international security and Russian-German relations
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On ‘conflict’, ‘peace’ and ‘genocide’: Time for new language on Palestine
By Ramzy Baroud | MEMO | June 12, 2021
On 25 May, famous US actor Mark Ruffalo tweeted an apology for suggesting that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.
“I have reflected and wanted to apologise for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing ‘genocide’,” Ruffalo wrote, adding: “It’s not accurate, it’s inflammatory, disrespectful and is being used to justify anti-Semitism, here and abroad. Now is the time to avoid hyperbole.”
But were Ruffalo’s earlier assessments, indeed, “not accurate, inflammatory and disrespectful”? And does equating Israel’s war on besieged, impoverished Gaza with genocide fit into the classification of “hyperbole”? … continue
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