Businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan is ready to renounce his Russian and Cypriot citizenships, Narek Karapetyan, a member of the council of the Strong Armenia party, said in an interview with RFE/RL.
“We confirm that Samvel Karapetyan will hold only Armenian citizenship,” he said.
He also addressed procedural issues.
“Samvel Karapetyan is under arrest. A well-known political figure, fearing that Samvel Karapetyan will become our next prime minister, is keeping him in custody. That is why there are restrictions now, but we reaffirm that after being released, Samvel Karapetyan will have a single citizenship — that of Armenia,” he said.
The Strong Armenia party council member reiterated that their political force’s candidate for prime minister is Samvel Karapetyan.
“He will go to the end with his own face and his own name, leaving behind all his opportunities and launching this process in Armenia. Having spent seven months in the National Security Service detention facility, he will go to the end and bring about those changes in the country himself.
If Samvel Karapetyan ‘cannot’ become prime minister, why is Nikol Pashinyan keeping him under arrest? Nikol Pashinyan knows that Samvel Karapetyan can become prime minister; that is precisely why he is keeping him in custody.”
Narek Karapetyan also said Armenia should move away from a logic of contradictions and instead pursue cooperation with regional countries.
“We must see danger in those neighbors who for centuries have proven to pose a threat to the Armenian ethnic group and not have the criminal overconfidence to open the border with Turkey when we have not resolved issues in our own agriculture,” Karapetyan said.
He added that in the long term Armenia has no territorial or other disputes with Turkey. At the same time, he noted that Turkey will eventually recognize the Armenian Genocide, although under the current leadership this appears unlikely.
“In time, it is inevitable that Turkey will confront its history, relieve the entire region of tension, bring a sense of justice to our country, which will lead to the idea of genuine neighborhood,” Karapetyan said, noting that in such a case Armenians would not have demands but would simply gain confidence that Turkey would not pose a threat to the Armenian ethnic group.
Parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for June 7, 2026.
