Samson Martirosyan

3 Posts

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Samson Martirosyan is a freelance reporter based in Armenia. He writes on social justice, regional and domestic politics, and human rights, follow him on Twitter @mrtrsyns.

Amulsar

Rural communities in Armenia give mining companies the boot

by Samson Martirosyan

•7 min read

In 2018, a group of local residents in Armenia’s Tavush region decided to stand up to a mining company. Now other communities are following suit as a revolution of ‘direct democracy’ seems poised to sweep the countryside. Mining companies in Armenia’s hinterlands have met with new forms of public resistance that some herald as the rebirth of local democracy in the countryside. Recent mining projects in the Armenian regions of Vayots Dzor and Tavush have provoked protest, boycotts, and

Armenia

Interview | Gevorg Gorgisyan: ‘We will prevent the authorities from turning away from the values of the revolution’

by Samson Martirosyan

•8 min read

Reflecting on the time since snap parliamentary elections last December in which the Bright Armenia Party took 18 seats, the secretary of the party’s parliamentary faction, Gevorg Gorgisyan, says their mission has been and remains to keep the ruling party in check and to make them deliver on the promises of the Velvet Revolution. Speaking to OC Media, Gorgisyan said that My Step, the ruling coalition whose leader Nikol Pashinyan has publicly rejected ideological commitments, was hard to def

Armenia

Opinion | Pashinyan’s neoliberal reforms risk undermining the values of the revolution

by Samson Martirosyan

•6 min read

Pashinyan and his revolutionary team have begun their second march — this time as a government parading towards economic revolution. Despite their ambitious goal to shake up Armenia’s economy, which for years has been impaired by systematic corruption, feudal-like oligarchs and shady deals behind closed doors, their proposed ‘economic revolution’ should do more to address the needs and expectations of the people who made the Velvet Revolution possible. For the past several weeks, virtually

OC Insider