Former journalist, who resigned due to military failure and was re-elected prime minister: Who is Nikol Pashinyan?

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018 with the promise of change in Armenia, is still going through difficult times due to his defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh and the criticisms directed against him afterward.

Pashinyan, born in June 1975, is an Armenian politician, former journalist, and editor.

Born in Ijevan, on the border of Azerbaijan in northeast Armenia, Pashinyan settled in Yerevan in the early 1990s to study journalism.

While studying journalism at the Armenian State University, he was expelled from school due to his political activities. It has been claimed that Pashinyan's reason for dismissal was an anti-corruption article. But the truth is this: He was expelled from school for absenteeism. In the late 1990s, he founded a newspaper called Armenian Time.

In 2000, while he was the editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, he was convicted of defamation and slander. Zhamanak is Armenia's best-selling liberal daily newspaper. Pashinyan has been extremely critical of the governments of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan. Pashinyan supported Levon Ter-Petrosyan in the 2008 presidential elections.

Pashinyan said in his interviews that his political views were influenced by the first President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. After Petrosyan lost the election in 2008, a search warrant was issued for "murder and mass turmoil" on the grounds that he organized the people who took to the streets. Pashinyan surrendered in June 2009, surrendered and was arrested. He was released with pardon 2 years later.

He built both his journalism and political career in opposition to former President and Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

For many years he led small opposition structures that did not have much popular support. However, the street demonstrations in 2018 and the process called the "Velvet Revolution", which ended with Sarkisyan's resignation, brought Pashinyan first to the most important leaders of the opposition and then to power.

Pashinyan describes himself as the leader of a movement that is independent of ideologies and based on people's happiness. However, he was criticized that he did not clearly state his target and program and that he did not have a plan with concrete steps.

He took office as the Prime Minister of Armenia on May 8, 2018. He resigned from his post on October 16, 2018, due to the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and subsequent criticism.

He was re-elected Prime Minister in the elections held after his resignation.

Under Pashinyan, Armenia made significant progress in democracy, freedom of the press, and the fight against corruption.

Protests are being held against him for the defeat of Azerbaijan after the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War and for signing the ceasefire agreement to withdraw from Karabakh.

Pashinyan is married to journalist Anna Hakobyan. They have three daughters and one son. Pashinyan and Hakopyan are not officially married. Pashinyan said that he hopes to get married one day in an Armenian Apostolic church.

Their son, Ashot, said he volunteered to serve in the military in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2018.