Nikol Pashinyan is one of Armenia's most controversial and, at the same time, most recognized political figures in recent years. He entered politics as a journalist and civil activist. During the “Velvet Revolution” in 2018, he led the people and achieved Serzh Sargsyan's resignation.
N. Pashinyan is known in Armenia as a leader with strong populist rhetoric and the ability to establish emotional contact with the people.
He is one of the few state leaders in the post-Soviet space who attempts to pursue a pro-Western policy. Leaning towards the West amidst a traditional alliance and security dependence on Russia has placed Pashinyan before a complex geopolitical dilemma. He strives to maintain Russia's support while also seeking closer ties with Europe and the USA.
The defeat in the Second Karabakh War in 2020 dealt a serious blow to Pashinyan's leadership capabilities. A part of Armenian society considers him an unsuccessful and incompetent prime minister. His political rivals accuse him of working for Turks and Azerbaijanis to incite the public against him, calling him a "Turkish spy," "traitor," and "betrayer." Others, however, support him, believing that the country's situation was inherited from previous governments.
Although the current prime minister takes flexible and swift steps in domestic politics, he sometimes makes uncertain and contradictory decisions in regional and security policies.
Nikol Pashinyan has demonstrated the ability to establish a deep connection with the people through the rhetoric and speaking style he uses in election campaigns (e.g., “you are all prime ministers,” “it's the fault of the former regime,” etc.).
Pashinyan resorts to various methods to eliminate his rivals. This is regarded as a cunning tactic employed to minimize internal political competition and reduce pre-election discontent.
Some analysts view Pashinyan as a highly maneuverable politician who exploits the public's state of panic. In other words, he possesses the cunning ability to navigate out of difficult situations.
Although his activities as prime minister have attracted widespread public attention, information about his personal life, especially his parents, is relatively scarce.
The Modern.az website this time features Nikol Pashinyan's parents in its "Leaders' Parents" section.
In this article, we will examine some facts about Nikol Pashinyan's origins, the family he grew up in, and the lives of his parents.
Nikol Pashinyan's father, Vova Pashinyan, was one of the typical intellectuals of the Soviet era. He was born in Ijevan, Armenia. Vova Pashinyan was a sports teacher by profession and was considered an influential figure in the local community.
He worked for a long time as a physical education teacher at Secondary School No. 1 in Ijevan. Among Vova Pashinyan's students were individuals who later became recognized in various fields.
Armenian sources note that Vova Pashinyan was known as a person with a simple lifestyle, open-minded, and possessing nationalist views. He supported his son's interest in journalism and politics from an early age.
Nikol Pashinyan's mother, Svetik Hovhannisyan, was a housewife. Those who knew her remember her as a person devoted to her family and children. Although there is very little information about her in the media, based on information obtained from some local sources, Svetik Hovhannisyan was a reserved, calm-natured woman who paid special attention to her children's education.
Svetik Hovhannisyan passed away from an illness in 1987, when Nikol was 12 years old. For this reason, the head of the family, Vova Pashinyan, married a second time.
Nikol and his brothers, orphaned by their mother at the age of 12, were raised by their stepmother, Yerjanik Chibukhchyan.
Nikol Pashinyan was born in Ijevan in 1975. He was named after his paternal grandfather, who died in the Second World War.
A democratic upbringing system existed in the family. His parents, especially his father, tried to develop his son's ability to think independently. The Pashinyan family showed great interest in books, history, and politics. This significantly influenced Nikol's future formation as a journalist and politician.
Nikol Pashinyan in one of his interviews said the following about his parents:
“My father taught me to be honest and to express my thoughts openly. My mother, on the other hand, instilled in me patience and respect for people.”
From these statements, it can be seen that the role of parental upbringing in Pashinyan's personality is not insignificant.
Pashinyan has two older brothers, Armen and Artak. Incidentally, Nikol did not serve in the army; his older brothers had served before him, participating in the war with Azerbaijan. According to Armenian laws, if two brothers in a family have participated in a war, the third brother is exempt from this obligation – military service.
Nikol Pashinyan graduated from Secondary School No. 1 in Ijevan.
One of Pashinyan's unnamed former teachers from secondary school spoke to the “Hraparak” newspaper about his mischievousness. He stated that Nikol caused serious problems for his teachers during his school years.
“He often skipped classes, was a nuisance to the entire school, and it got to the point where his father, Vova Pashinyan, who worked as a physical education teacher at the school, beat him in front of everyone. In other words, he was characterized by causing problems and stirring up trouble from his teenage years,” the teacher said.
In 1991, Nikol enrolled in the journalism program at the Faculty of Philology of Yerevan State University. During his student years, he collaborated with the newspapers "Dprutyun," "Hayastan," "Lragir," "Lragir or," and "Molorak."
In his fifth year, Nikol was expelled from the university – he himself attributes this to political reasons.
The “Hraparak” newspaper writes that during his student years, Nikol wrote so many articles against his university, his teachers, and various officials in the newspapers he worked for that he was forced to drop out in his 5th year. This was because he was expelled from Yerevan State University,
“The Dean of the Faculty of Journalism, Garnik Ananyan, who was also from Ijevan (Nikol's compatriot - ed.), always spoke negatively about him. Pashinyan wrote articles not only about the dean but also about his sister, Jemma Ananyan, the secretary of the Ijevan regional committee. On one hand, he didn't attend classes, and on the other, he created conflict, so the faculty dean decided to expel him from the university in his 5th year. After this, he seriously began to engage in journalism, worked at the “Planet” newspaper, then left there, and later founded the “Oragir” and then the “Haykakan Zhamanak” newspapers,” said the former teacher of the prime minister.
In 1998, N. Pashinyan became the founder and editor-in-chief of the opposition publication “Oragir.” He was accused in several criminal cases on charges of libel and damaging business reputation. Nikol actively supported Armenia's first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, and sharply criticized the second president, Robert Kocharyan, Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan (who later became prime minister, then president of the country - ed.), and their allies, calling them the “Karabakh clan.”
The “Oragir” newspaper ceased its activities by court order in 1999.
In 1999, Nikol Pashinyan founded the daily newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak" (“Armenian Time”) and led it until 2012. Subsequently, his wife, Anna Hakobyan, took over the position of editor-in-chief.
In November 2004, Pashinyan's “Niva” was blown up in the center of Yerevan, next to the editorial office of the “Haykakan Zhamanak” newspaper. No one was in the car at the time. Nikol Pashinyan assessed the incident as an assassination attempt and accused businessman Gagik Tsarukyan.
Nikol Pashinyan entered politics in 2006. Initially, he was one of the founders of the “Alternative” initiative, and later he organized and led the “Impeachment” political bloc. The main goal of the party alliance was to demand the resignation of the prime minister and the president.
In the 2008 presidential elections, Nikol Pashinyan worked at the headquarters of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the candidate who came in second. After the elections, opposition members organized rallies in the center of Yerevan. As a result, clashes with the police occurred, and there were fatalities. Pashinyan, who actively participated in these events, was arrested on charges of organizing mass riots. He spent 2 years of the 7-year prison sentence handed down by the court and was released in May 2011 under an amnesty.
After his release, Nikol Pashinyan returned to politics. In May 2012, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Armenian National Congress. A year later, Nikol Pashinyan left this political organization. In 2015, he founded the “Civil Contract” party. In 2017, he was re-elected as a deputy.
In May 2017, the politician ran for the position of Yerevan mayor. However, he lost, managing to secure second place.
Nikol Pashinyan had no intention of stopping. On March 31, 2018, he organized a march called “My Step” against Serzh Sargsyan, who was then expected to be appointed prime minister. The march began in Gyumri and concluded 14 days later in Yerevan's Freedom Square, where it turned into a protest, and participants declared the start of the “Velvet Revolution” in the country. In April, Sargsyan was reappointed head of the Armenian government, but amidst protests, the prime minister resigned on April 23. In response, Pashinyan's supporters nominated him for the prime minister's post and insisted on holding snap parliamentary elections.
Nikol's parents – Vova Pashinyan and Yerjanik Chibukhchyan – also participated in the 2018 protests, supporting their son.
In May 2018, the Armenian parliament approved Nikol Pashinyan for the post of head of government. Having won, Pashinyan soon promised to hold snap parliamentary elections. For this purpose, on October 16, he officially resigned, and after the vote held on December 9, Nikol Vovayevich officially led the government again.
In May 2018, Nikol's father, Vova Pashinyan, passed away at the age of 81. He died due to a prolonged illness – cancer.
One of the main priorities of Nikol Pashinyan's domestic policy, after being elected prime minister, is the fight against corruption. After he came to power, serious purges were carried out in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Tax Service, and other state institutions in the country.
During Pashinyan's tenure, the tax burden on small businesses was reduced, the number of ministries and departments was cut, and concessions for foreign investors were introduced.
At the beginning of his career, Nikol Pashinyan pursued a rigid policy regarding Karabakh and had no intention of returning the occupied territories to Azerbaijan. However, after the Second Karabakh War, which ended with the victory of the Azerbaijani Army, the politician had to change his stance on this issue and recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan's territory.
After the defeat in the Karabakh war, facing pressure from his rivals, N. Pashinyan announced new parliamentary elections in the spring of 2021 and officially resigned. In the summer of that year, his “Civil Contract” party again surpassed its rivals by garnering 54% of the votes. This demonstrated that citizens still believe in Pashinyan's policies.
Armenian sources note that Nikol Pashinyan's parents continued to live in a simple house in Ijevan even after he was elected prime minister. Only after her husband's death did Yerjanik Chibukhchyan have to move to the capital.
Yerjanik Chibukhchyan, who had been a stepmother to Pashinyan since he was 12, described Nikol as a very patient person in her media statement.
“If he does everything as he envisions, we will live in a beautiful country,” his stepmother emphasized, expressing her belief in Nikol Pashinyan.
Yerjanik Chibukhchyan stated that although she was Nikol's stepmother, they always treated each other like blood relatives. According to her, she was more than a birth mother to Nikol's other brothers as well.
"Now, when their children – my grandchildren – call me “grandmother,” you know how happy I am… Family is the greatest happiness. In the early days of my marriage to Nikol's father, I would get confused looking at the boys – I'd mix up who was Artak, who was Armen, who was Nikol?! Then, gradually, we grew closer, and they became dearer to me than all my other relatives," the stepmother said in her interview with the press.
His stepmother says she is confident that Nikol will lead Armenia to brighter days: "I am proud of my people that in 2018, everyone rose as one and achieved their goal. Now the people are moving towards better days," Nikol's stepmother stated.
Nikol Pashinyan is married to Anna Hakobyan, who was his fellow student. They met in their first year.
“When I first entered the auditorium, I immediately heard this name – Nikol Pashinyan. Everyone was talking about him: teachers, deans, students. Then, as a first-year student, I was given an important task: to write an article for the newspaper. That's when I went to the editorial office where Nikol worked. Nikol fell in love with me at first sight, and I with him,” Anna Hakobyan stated.
Four children were born from the marriage of Anna and Nikol: their son Ashot, and daughters Mariam, Shushanna, and Arpine.
A. Gafarli
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