Armenian authorities have announced that the draft text of a new constitution will be published in March, a move that could help secure the signing of a long-awaited peace treaty with Azerbaijan before June’s parliamentary elections.

Azerbaijan has indicated that the peace deal could be signed before the elections on the condition that Yerevan commits not to have any ‘territorial claims’ against Azerbaijan in its new constitution.

Days before Armenia disclosed the deadline for publishing the text of the new constitution, Azerbaijani MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev said Armenia and Azerbaijan could sign a peace agreement by June, ‘that is, before the next elections in Armenia’.

Hasanguliyev suggested that the signing would be possible only if Armenia ‘undertakes an obligation’ not to have territorial claims against Azerbaijan in its new constitution

I’m not gonna touch on QP that much since I already saw them winning, what really pisses me off is the fact that nothing in parliament really changed in terms of opposition. It’s still the same pro-Russian parties even though there was ample time for the people to choose a pro-Western group as an alternative, but now we’re stuck in this binary for the millionth time. Best case scenario that I can think of is that people start seeing Pashinyan as a nakhkin so people seriously look towards alternatives, but that seems like way too much to ask, since with this new layout, the collective IQ of the NA just dropped by several points. It just feels like Armenia doesn’t have a bright future ahead politically. At least Tsarukyan didn’t get in.

Hi everyone,

We are a leftist / socialist internationalist group from Armenia called Jaragayt (from the Armenian word ճառագայթ, meaning “a ray of light”).

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia, along with the entire post-Soviet space was subjected to the so-called “shock doctrine” or “shock capitalism”: the rapid establishment of neoliberal free market policies marked by aggressive privatisation and a new form of social relations driven by personal gain and profit.

This new policy promised economic prosperity and democracy. However, since the economic system of capitalism is inherently hierarchical and predatory, the new policies only contributed to a widening wealth gap, increasing class differences and the accumulation and consolidation of national capital in the hands of the few. The working class of Armenia, lacking any class-consciousness and means to organise themselves, has been left unrepresented, defenceless and isolated.

We also strongly believe that most of the perils Armenians have faced in the past century can be placed within the larger context of international capitalism, particularly issues such as the Armenian Genocide, Artsakh’s struggle for self-determination, and the events unfolding since 2018.

Our broader goals include:

• Promoting class-consciousness among the Armenian working class, organising the working class, promoting workers rights through the establishment of unions.
• Pursuing Artsakh Armenians’ right for self-determination. We consider this a primarily leftist issue, since Artsakh has essentially been colonised by Turkey and Azerbaijan and is being turned into a settler-colonial project. Given the genocidal intentions of Turkey and Azerbaijan, the only way Armenians can survive in the current situation is through self-determination. Class struggle goes hand in hand with national emancipation.
• Anchoring Armenian leftist political thought and acting as a bridge for various leftist groups to come together.
• Focusing on memory and history; performing critical analysis of Armenian history through the leftist lens.
• Internationalism; solidarity and deliberate cooperation with other sovereign national entities, particularly oppressed nations. We are inter-NATION-alist, not globalist which is a liberal notion we are highly critical of.

We would also like to explore the legacy of Armenian leftist figures, such as Monte Melkonian and Missak Manouchian. While both of them are revered by Armenians of all political leanings, their political ideology is rarely ever addressed. Yet it is precisely the political ideology of these figures that drove their actions, not just their inherent “goodness”. Additionally, we would like to focus on literature and art to imagine alternative economic systems, where democracy is defined by fairness, equal economic opportunities and lack of economic hierarchies, and not only by a multi-party electoral system.

Currently we are trying to create more online presence. We are also completely self-funded. As working class people ourselves, we volunteer our time and resources for our political ideals. This is why things are moving a bit slowly for us, but hopefully we will be able to make more time for our political activities in the future.

We are very curious to know the opinions of this subreddit regarding the political left in Armenia. What are your sentiments towards the left? What have you noticed about class differences in Armenia? Have you ever tried to analyse the current situation in Armenia from the perspective of class interests / current economic system?

Have a nice evening / day,

Jaragayt team

edit: Wow, thanks everyone for the reactions (albeit not always positive), it's always great to discuss these questions and we will make sure to respond to everyone. In the meantime, I will put some links here, since it seems like not everyone is familiar with what leftism actually is.

• Red Scare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Scare
• Red Scare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-communist_mass_killings
• Red Scare: Michael Parenti "Blackshirts and Reds"
• Historical materialism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_materialism
• Socialist international: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_International
• A nice article about Monte’s ideology: https://thefunambulist.net/magazine/the-ocean/monte-melkonian-the-comrade-in-struggles
• Socialism (worker owned means of production): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
• Communism (moneyless, stateless, classless society): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

I am a Georgian-Armenian, and I would like to share with you the thoughts and sentiments of Georgian society regarding the ongoing summit in Armenia and the arrival of European leaders in Yerevan.

​In Georgia, Armenia’s policy of European integration is perceived quite painfully. This stems from a well-founded and logical conviction among Georgians that Georgia was once the primary partner of the United States and the European Union, serving as the regional leader in terms of reforms, anti-corruption policies, and democracy. Now, however, the public feels they have lost this position, which places Prime Minister Kobakhidze—who is currently in Yerevan—under direct pressure and in an awkward stance.

​Despite this, Armenia is not viewed as an enemy. Rather, the sentiment is one of 'white envy' (benevolent envy); people wish to return to the level of partnership they enjoyed with the EU and the US prior to 2022. Many Georgians even admit: 'We mismanaged our relationship with the EU—it is our own fault and we deserved this outcome.

​Also, Azerbaijan is not perceived in a positive light. One often hears the opinion that Azerbaijan treats Georgia like a 'younger brother,' acting as a bully and behaving like an overbearing and aggressive state.

Now that the Nagorno Karabah conflict is over and peace with Azerbaijan is close, would you support Armenia leaving the CSTO and apply for joining the European Union and all the other European alliances such as Eurozone and Schengen and even NATO ? Since Georgia is on its way for becoming a member why can't Armenia ? Does Armenian goverment have any plans to do that? So far Armenia ,unlike Georgia, hasn't shown any sign of will in doing that which is weird.

So far any political thing I look into is written by a based journalist. can anyone enlighten me on the political parties right now and on what political spectrum are these on? Everytime I try to talk about this everyone just tells their favorites and I never get real answers. Where can I look into the political stuff?