Freedom of the Press
Armenia makes gains as Georgia continues freefall in latest RSF Press Freedom Index
Georgia fell to 114th place in the world, while Armenia rose to 34th.
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Become a memberThe Armenian government has hired the services of the US lobbying firm Mercury Public Affairs, a filing under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) has revealed. The company previously dropped Turkey as a client amidst a pressure campaign during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020.
According to the FARA filing in April, Armenia will pay Mercury Public Affairs $50,000 a month to advocate on the country’s behalf in the US Congress, as well as to promote Armenian interests and portray the country as an essential regional ally of the US.
The agreement came into effect on 1 May, and will continue until 31 March 2026, barring prior termination by either party.
While domestic political consulting was not explicitly mentioned in the filing, the agreement does mention that Mercury Public Affairs will provide ‘strategic communications and media relations services’ to the Armenian government.
Armenia is set to hold what is likely to be a hotly contested parliamentary election sometime in 2026, although the exact date has not yet been announced.
News of Yerevan’s hiring of the company was picked up by some diaspora media outlets and the prominent Armenian lobby in the US, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which highlighted that Mercury Public Affairs had previously been hired by Turkey.
In 2020, as Turkey was providing significant assistance to Azerbaijan during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, the ANCA spearheaded a PR campaign against Mercury Public Affairs, demanding the company drop Turkey as a client given its support for Azerbaijan.
At the time, the ANCA and other pro-Armenian advocacy groups launched protests outside the company’s offices and urged others to join a boycott if the company did not end its business with Turkey.
Eventually, local politicians got involved, particularly in Los Angeles, which has the largest Armenian diaspora population in the US.
Mercury Public Affairs ultimately pulled out of its $1 million contract with Turkey.
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