Generals Diverting Hayk Marutyan from Revolution: Armtimes

According to "Haykakan Zamanak," it is known that Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan has repeatedly expressed a desire to resign since the beginning of his term, but has backed down each time at the urging of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

However, everything strangely changed when he traveled to Artsakh with the well-known general Arthur Aleksanyan (Amaras' Arthur) during the days of the war, with whom he shares a godfather-godson relationship. Allegedly, after the end of the war, he submitted a request to leave the "Civil Contract" party and severed ties with the ruling party members.

According to rumors, Marutyan has also established close ties through his godfather, Amaras’ Arthur, with another general, Seyran Ohanyan, the leader of the "Armenia" faction in the National Assembly, who is also a godson and close friend of Amaras' Arthur. There are also reports that after the end of the war, Hayk Marutyan met with Robert Kocharian through Seyran Ohanyan’s mediation.

Notably, after his meeting with Kocharian, many media outlets under Kocharian's influence, which previously paid little attention to Marutyan, have adopted a much more loyal stance toward him. He had been one of the most criticized officials within the ruling political team.

It is perhaps striking that after the 2020 Artsakh war, advertisements for Robert Kocharian's book appeared on the streets of Yerevan. It seems that everything is heading toward an attempt to draw Marutyan, who has taken a "neutral" political stance after the war, into a "serious game" and to strike powerful blows against the current authorities under his leadership.

Specifically, analyzing the results of the local government elections, where Kocharian's created "Armenia" alliance is intentionally not nominating candidates, but covertly supports the sitting mayors remaining from the previous administrations, who are winning against the government candidates under their own name and surname. The previous authorities also see Hayk Marutyan as a suitable candidate for the upcoming 2023 local government elections in Yerevan.

If until now the central authorities have "somehow tolerated" the position taken by Hayk Marutyan, it is clear that a significant rift is forming between the political team that made him mayor and himself. How the ruling political team that brought Hayk Marutyan to the mayorship decides his future fate will become clear in the future.