1. Nikol Pashinyan was sentenced for one year for defamation against then Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan.
142 Facts About Nikol Pashinyan
1. 2.
Nikol Pashinyan edited the newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak from 1999 to 2012.
3.
Nikol Pashinyan was critical of Armenia's close relations with Russia, and promoted establishing closer relations with Turkey instead.
4.
Nikol 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.
5.
Nikol Pashinyan was one of the leaders of Ter-Petrosyan's supporters in the post-election protests in February and March 2008; the protests were dispersed by security forces on March 1, resulting in the deaths of ten people.
6.
Nikol Pashinyan was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the protests.
7.
Nikol Pashinyan was released in May 2011 as part of a general amnesty.
8.
Nikol Pashinyan was elected to parliament from Ter-Petrosyan's broad opposition coalition, the Armenian National Congress, in 2012.
9.
Nikol Pashinyan later distanced himself from Ter-Petrosyan on political grounds, establishing the party Civil Contract.
10.
Nikol Pashinyan was the leader of the 2018 Armenian revolution which forced Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and his government to resign.
11.
Nikol Pashinyan was elected acting prime minister by parliament on 8 May 2018 and won snap parliamentary elections in December 2018.
12.
Nikol Pashinyan's victory had originally been heralded by some observers as an improvement in democracy, while others have criticized Nikol Pashinyan as a mere populist.
13.
Nikol 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 the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh and its neighbor Azerbaijan.
14.
Nikol Pashinyan's government was criticized within Armenia for its management of the war.
15.
On 25 April 2021, Nikol Pashinyan announced his formal resignation to allow snap elections to be held in June, although he remained as acting prime minister in the leadup to the elections.
16.
Nikol Pashinyan's party won the 2021 election, receiving more than half of all votes.
17.
Nikol Pashinyan was born on 1 June 1975 in Ijevan, in the northeastern province of Tavush.
18.
Nikol Pashinyan was named after his paternal grandfather who died in World War II.
19.
Nikol Pashinyan served in the 554th Rifle Regiment of the 138th Rifle Division and died in 1943.
20.
Nikol Pashinyan graduated from the Ijevan Secondary School N1 in 1991.
21.
In 2018, Nikol Pashinyan claimed to have organized students strikes, marches and demonstrations during the Karabakh movement of 1988.
22.
Nikol Pashinyan did not serve in the Armenian Army because his two elder brothers served before him and he was not obliged to serve by law.
23.
Nikol Pashinyan studied journalism at Yerevan State University from 1991 to 1995.
24.
Nikol Pashinyan claimed to have been expelled for his political activities, although Yerevan State University released a statement that Nikol Pashinyan had been expelled due to absences.
25.
Nikol Pashinyan became engaged in journalism in 1992 as a journalism student at YSU.
26.
Nikol Pashinyan worked at the newspapers Dprutyun, Hayastan, Lragir, and Molorak.
27.
Nikol Pashinyan was ordered to retract his accusations against Serzh Sargsyan and Mika-Armenia, a large trading company which the court had ruled constituted defamation.
28.
Nikol Pashinyan remained editor of the newspaper until 2012, when he was elected to parliament.
29.
On 23 December 1999, Nikol Pashinyan 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.
30.
On 22 November 2004, a Lada Niva car belonging to Nikol Pashinyan, parked outside the office of Haykakan Zhamanak exploded.
31.
Nikol 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.
32.
Nikol Pashinyan entered the political scene prior to the 2007 parliamentary election.
33.
In July 2007, Nikol Pashinyan stated that the opposition can prevent vote rigging and defeat Serzh Sargsyan, the likely 2008 presidential successor of Kocharyan, only if they unite around a single presidential candidate.
34.
Nikol Pashinyan stood behind Ter-Petrosyan when the latter announced his comeback at the Marriott Hotel Yerevan.
35.
Nikol Pashinyan was considered a key ally of Ter-Petrosyan during the 2008 presidential election campaign and was a member of his election office.
36.
Nikol 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.
37.
Nikol Pashinyan's house was searched by police officers who did not find him there.
38.
Nikol Pashinyan claimed the increasing attacks on opposition activists was due to the growing number of Ter-Petrosyan supporters.
39.
Nikol Pashinyan stated in a speech that they demanded invalidation of the vote and new presidential elections.
40.
Ter-Petrosyan's supporters gathered at Myasnikyan Square, near the French Embassy and Yerevan City Hall where Nikol Pashinyan became the main orator.
41.
In late afternoon, Nikol Pashinyan called on the crowd to reinforce the barricades around the square and "boost their self-defense" in case of a police attack.
42.
Nikol Pashinyan was heard telling protestors "to take the government by attack" and that "we must liberate our city from the Karabakhtsi scum", referring to Kocharyan and Sargsyan.
43.
In March 2018, Nikol 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.
44.
Nikol Pashinyan spent time at different locations in Yerevan and never left the city.
45.
In hiding, Nikol Pashinyan continued regularly writing commentaries in Haykakan Zhamanak.
46.
Nikol Pashinyan stated that he believes in a "bloodless and peaceful" revolution and stressed that it depends on the authorities.
47.
In late June 2009, Nikol Pashinyan declared that he had decided to come out of hiding after a general amnesty was declared by the government.
48.
Nikol Pashinyan declared that he will continue his struggle in prison.
49.
Nikol Pashinyan was given a stricter punishment than the prosecutor demanded.
50.
Nikol Pashinyan was acquitted of charges of using violence against a policeman during the election campaign in October 2007.
51.
The Court of Appeals of Armenia upheld the ruling on 9 March 2010, ruling that Nikol Pashinyan will serve half of his sentence in accordance with the general amnesty.
52.
Nikol Pashinyan did not file claims for material compensation with the European Court.
53.
Nikol Pashinyan was widely recognized as a political prisoner, including by international organizations, and Armenian media.
54.
On 11 November 2010 Nikol 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.
55.
In late October 2009, Nikol Pashinyan declared his intention to run for a seat in the parliament in the 10th constituency, a single-member district that covered the center of Yerevan.
56.
Nikol Pashinyan became the first jailed candidate in independent Armenia's history to run for parliament.
57.
Nikol Pashinyan was released from Artik prison on 27 May 2011 in accordance with the general amnesty declared by the government.
58.
Nikol Pashinyan affirmed that he and the ANC are committed to the idea of democratic revolution in Armenia.
59.
Nikol Pashinyan 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.
60.
In October 2012, Nikol Pashinyan publicly denounced any potential ANC collaboration with Gagik Tsarukyan and his Prosperous Armenia party.
61.
Nikol Pashinyan eventually severed ties with Ter-Petrosyan's ANC over the latter's pursuit of cooperation with Tsarukyan's party, although he remained nominally a member of the ANC's faction in parliament.
62.
Nikol 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.
63.
Nikol Pashinyan increasingly distanced himself from Ter-Petrosyan and criticized him for making false promises to his supporters about imminent snap elections after the 2008 government crackdown.
64.
Nikol Pashinyan criticized the ambiguity of their demands and accused them of monopolizing of the political field in Armenia.
65.
On 10 September 2016 Nikol Pashinyan was declared the Civil Contract's candidate for prime minister at a rally in Freedom Square.
66.
Nikol Pashinyan was a candidate in the 4th electoral district, which comprises the Kentron, Nor Nork, Erebuni, and Nubarashen districts of Yerevan.
67.
Nikol Pashinyan was thus elected from to the National Assembly from this constituency.
68.
Nikol Pashinyan topped the list of the Way Out alliance in the 15 May 2017 Yerevan City Council election.
69.
Nikol Pashinyan strongly criticized the poor state of Yerevan's public transportation.
70.
Nikol Pashinyan believed that hundreds of thousands of people would take it to the streets against Sargsyan's prolonged rule.
71.
Nikol Pashinyan's partners were skeptical that the protest would attract large enough crowds.
72.
Edmon Marukyan went as far as saying Nikol Pashinyan was seeking "short-term glory," and instead advocated acquiring political leverage to keep Sargsyan's government in check.
73.
Nikol Pashinyan called on people to gather at Freedom Square.
74.
Nikol Pashinyan called for more acts of civil disobedience, which would paralyze traffic in Yerevan.
75.
Nikol Pashinyan attempted to cross the barbed wire line in an effort to break through lines of police armed with batons and shields.
76.
Nikol Pashinyan called for disruption of the parliamentary session which was to elect Sargsyan as prime minister by blocking the streets leading to the parliament building.
77.
Nikol Pashinyan dismissed the protests led by Pashinyan as too small to be consequential.
78.
Nikol Pashinyan continued with calls of "total blockade" of streets and government buildings in and outside Yerevan.
79.
Nikol Pashinyan called parliament to elect the "candidate of the people" as an interim prime minister to organize snap parliamentary elections.
80.
Nikol Pashinyan said that the "people's candidate" should be elected prime minister by the Republican-led parliament.
81.
Nikol Pashinyan urged people to maintain pressure on the Republican majority in parliament by blocking streets and highways, railroads, and the airports.
82.
Nikol Pashinyan declared "I will serve the people of Armenia and the Republic of Armenia" immediately after the vote.
83.
Nikol Pashinyan's election sparked celebrations in Republic Square and elsewhere.
84.
The day after his election as prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan traveled to Stepanakert to attend the Shushi Liberation Day and the Victory Day celebrations on his first official foreign visit in this position.
85.
Nikol Pashinyan made his second foreign visit on 14 May 2018, meeting Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Russian resort city of Sochi.
86.
Nikol Pashinyan appointed multiple liberal western NGO activists to senior positions within the Armenian government.
87.
On 3 October 2018, Nikol Pashinyan fired six cabinet ministers after their political parties supported a bill to limit the prime minister's authority to call snap elections to the National Assembly.
88.
The Second Nikol Pashinyan government was sworn in on 14 January 2019.
89.
Nikol Pashinyan was mentioned on the 2019 top-10 list of world leaders with the most interactions on Facebook.
90.
Nikol Pashinyan held the highest interaction rate on that list.
91.
Nikol Pashinyan called on his supporters to block court buildings and announced his plan to introduce mandatory "vetting" for all judges to investigate possible corruption and links to the old regime.
92.
Nikol Pashinyan's government planned to hold a referendum in April 2020 to introduce a constitutional amendment to dismiss seven of the nine judges serving on Armenia's Constitutional Court.
93.
Nikol Pashinyan accused the judges of defending members of the old regime from prosecution through its decisions.
94.
Nikol Pashinyan's government was criticized for providing minimal commitment to the war effort.
95.
Movses Hakobyan, the former chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Army, accused Nikol Pashinyan of hindering the army's buildup process for the war, replacing Armenian army reverses with volunteer detachments, and appointing incompetent generals to leadership positions.
96.
Hakobyan stated the Azerbaijani forces had made no advancements for the first three days, but eventually broke the line of contact due to Nikol Pashinyan sending a lack of supplies.
97.
On 25 February 2021, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan and more than 40 other high-ranking officers demanded Nikol Pashinyan's resignation, accusing Nikol Pashinyan of misrule and incompetence.
98.
The declaration, which Nikol Pashinyan described as a coup attempt, causing a political crisis that ended with Gasparyan's dismissal.
99.
On 25 April 2021, Nikol Pashinyan announced his formal resignation from his post of prime minister to allow snap parliamentary elections in June.
100.
Nikol Pashinyan continued to act as interim prime minister in the leadup to the election.
101.
Nikol Pashinyan's party won the 2021 election, receiving more than half of all votes.
102.
Nikol Pashinyan has advocated less taxes for small business, downsizing the government by reducing number of ministries and state agencies, and introduce tax breaks for foreign business willing to invest in Armenia.
103.
On 26 April 2022, a police vehicle in Nikol Pashinyan's motorcade struck and killed 29-year-old pregnant woman Sona Mnatsakanyan.
104.
Nikol Pashinyan had frequently referred to Kocharyan, Sargsyan, and their allies as the "Karabakh Clan".
105.
Nikol Pashinyan claimed that Artsakh has its own claims which are controlled by Azerbaijan, namely the Shahumyan region.
106.
Nikol Pashinyan visited Stepanakert on 9 May 2018 the day after his election as prime minister, to take part in celebrations of the Liberation of Shushi and Victory Day.
107.
On 7 February 2023, during an address to the National Assembly, Nikol Pashinyan congratulated neighboring Georgia for obtaining EU candidate status.
108.
On 17 February 2023, Nikol Pashinyan met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Munich.
109.
In February 2023, Nikol Pashinyan announced support of the European Union Mission in Armenia.
110.
On 5 March, Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia would apply for EU candidacy by Autumn 2024 at the latest.
111.
On 9 September 2024, Nikol Pashinyan confirmed that the issue of starting the EU membership process has become part of the Armenian political agenda.
112.
Nikol Pashinyan stated, "discussions are underway in the country regarding the possibility of Armenia becoming a member of the European Union," during a meeting with Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas.
113.
Nikol Pashinyan argued that Armenia's membership to the union could hurt Armenia's relations with its neighbors, including Iran.
114.
On 3 September 2023, during an interview, Nikol Pashinyan stated that it was a strategic mistake for Armenia to solely rely on Russia to guarantee its security.
115.
Nikol Pashinyan confirmed that Armenia is trying to diversify its security arrangements, most notably with the European Union and the United States.
116.
Nikol Pashinyan stated, "We have now in practical terms frozen our participation in this treaty" and "membership of the CSTO was under review" during a live broadcast interview.
117.
In 2024, Nikol Pashinyan suspended scheduled high-level visits to Belarus amid the latter's support for Azerbaijan.
118.
Nikol Pashinyan stated that his government remains committed to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
119.
In November 2018 Nikol Pashinyan reiterated that Armenia is ready to normalize its relations with Turkey without preconditions.
120.
In October 2019, Nikol Pashinyan condemned the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish-controlled northeastern areas of Syria.
121.
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation has criticized Nikol Pashinyan for pursuing a pro-Turkish policy at the expense of Armenian interests and human rights.
122.
On 28 May 2023, Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his reelection.
123.
Oskanian stated that Nikol Pashinyan "did not represent the Armenian people, only himself".
124.
Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia's relations with Iran will not only be maintained, but improved, despite the sanctions against Iran.
125.
Nikol Pashinyan said that the US "understands our situation and policy" and that good relations with the United States is "very important" to Armenia.
126.
Nikol Pashinyan was one of the first people to speak with Varuzhan Avetisyan, leader of the group, inside the police station.
127.
Nikol Pashinyan later demanded the authorities to allow him to meet with the jailed leader of the group, Jirair Sefilian, whose release his supporters demanded.
128.
Nikol Pashinyan called on Armenians to demonstrate in the streets demanding Sargsyan's resignation.
129.
Nikol Pashinyan further stated that he wants the church to have dignity and good reputation and that his government does not use the church for its political interests.
130.
Nikol Pashinyan opined that his government will "somehow avoid" what should be done with gay people and stated that the traditional Armenian family is the highest value for him.
131.
Nikol Pashinyan's government funded a documentary about transgender weightlifter Meline Daluzyan.
132.
Nikol Pashinyan claimed to have been unaware of the government funding for the film, but praised the documentary and Daluzyan.
133.
Nikol Pashinyan has put a great emphasis on repatriation from the Armenian diaspora since at least 2013.
134.
Nikol Pashinyan elaborated that it should not only include return of ethnic Armenians to Armenia, but Armenian capital, ideas, programs.
135.
Nikol Pashinyan has gained support from System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian, who co-wrote a ballad called "Hayastane" in 2020 as well as served as an executive producer and composer for the documentary I Am Not Alone, which chronicled Nikol Pashinyan's rise.
136.
Nikol Pashinyan was named one of the four crusaders keeping the dream of democracy alive in 2018 by Time magazine, and Politician of the Year in 2018 by Vedomosti.
137.
Protesters demanded his resignation calling him "a traitor" and the deal "a betrayal", although Nikol Pashinyan maintained his government had not been involved in the text of the ceasefire agreement.
138.
Nikol Pashinyan is married to Anna Hakobyan, a journalist whom he met at YSU.
139.
Nikol Pashinyan has been editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak since 2012.
140.
Nikol Pashinyan stated that he hopes they can get married at an Armenian Apostolic church one day.
141.
Besides his native Armenian, Nikol Pashinyan speaks Russian, English, and French.
142.
Nikol Pashinyan said that he and his family are adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church.