Former Armenian ombudsperson warns of 'hybrid war' if government retains power

Armenia’s first human rights defender, Larisa Alaverdyan, has cautioned that the country risks the continuation of a “hybrid war” should the current leadership be re-elected, accusing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration of grave missteps since 2018.

In an interview with Panorama.am on Saturday, Alaverdyan, now executive director of the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO, dismissed government rhetoric portraying the Nagorno-Karabakh movement as a mistake. She urged Armenians to resist narratives of permanent loss, invoking the 1992 liberation of Shushi as a “victory of spirit” achieved despite overwhelming military disadvantage.

Alaverdyan alleged that the authorities are rushing constitutional changes alongside elections due to doubts about their political future. “We are not only choosing a government, we are making a civilizational choice,” she said, framing the vote as part of a broader clash of civilizations.

She linked Pashinyan’s tenure to “wars and thousands of casualties,” arguing that peace promises are illusory. “If the current leadership is re-elected, the hybrid war will continue. The war has not ended since 2020 or 2023,” she said, pointing to ongoing pressure from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and what she described as “globalist centers.”

Alaverdyan expressed confidence that new national heroes would emerge and insisted that the current leaders would eventually be held accountable for “serious crimes”. She called on citizens to honor fallen soldiers and reject “cheap statements” during the election campaign.