The Armenian authorities are creating dividing lines within society, and the situation is tense since the authorities haven’t fulfilled their promises. This is what co-founder of National Agenda Party Ara Hakobyan said during a discussion entitled “Domestic Political Events in Armenia: The Istanbul Convention” today.

According to him, all this is accompanied by repression on national and traditional values, as well as repression on judges so that the judiciary becomes submissive to the government. He noted that the Istanbul Convention contains traps within which there are elements that contradict Armenian traditions.

Ara Hakobyan added that even though some government officials say the provisions of the Istanbul Convention won’t have to be implemented even if the Convention is ratified, this stance is troubling. “There are countries, including European countries that are against this Convention, for instance, Bulgaria, and there are countries that are precautious, for instance, Great Britain, Russia and Moldova,” he concluded.

On January 18, 2018, Armenia signed the Istanbul Convention.