Groong Week in Review - Dec 28, 2025

In this milestone 500th episode of *Groong Week in Review*, we assess how major external crises are shaping Armenia’s strategic environment in 2025, examine the stalled Armenia–Azerbaijan process, analyze Russia’s posture around TRIPP, and discuss the implications of a change in the U.S. ambassador. The episode concludes with an extended year-end review, where each participant evaluates their 2025 predictions from a year ago (in Episode 403), and presents high-, medium-, and low-probability forecasts for 2026.

Topics

• Foreign Crises Affecting Armenia
• Armenia-Azerbaijan Saga
• Russia and TRIPP
• Change of US Ambassador
• Year-End Review & Outlook

Guest

• Benyamin Poghosyan

Hosts

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 500 | Recorded: January 31, 2025

https://podcasts.groong.org/500

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The Critical Corner - Recorded on: December 27, 2025

In this episode, guest host Bedros Afeyan speaks with documentary filmmaker Diana Mkrtchyan about her feature documentary *Ojakh: On the Other Side of Silence*. The conversation traces the film’s nine-year development, its origins in Turkish photographer Erhan Arik’s *Horovel* project, and the urgent effort to document the last living Armenian Genocide survivors in border villages. The discussion also addresses artistic responsibility, dignity in testimony, cultural memory, censorship, and the continuity between Genocide-era trauma and the recent destruction of Artsakh.

Topics

• Diana Mkrtchyan’s personal and artistic journey
• The origins of *Ojakh* in Erhan Arik’s photographic work
• Filming the final testimonies of Armenian Genocide survivors
• Ethical and technical challenges of documenting trauma
• The erasure of *Ojakh* from official cultural promotion in Armenia
• Cinema as historical record and moral witness
• Mkrtchyan’s Artsakh footage during the blockade

Guest

• Diana Mkrtchyan

Guest Hosts

• Bedros Afeyan

Episode 499 | Recorded: December 27, 2025

https://podcasts.groong.org/499

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Groong Week in Review - December 21, 2025

Topics:

• Ukraine War and EU Rift
• Siege on Etchmiadzin and the Church
• Peace Dividend or Political Theater
• TRIPP and Competing Power Claims

Guest: Dziunik Aghajanian

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 498 | Recorded: December 23, 2025

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/498

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Ui21tqO_d2U

#ArmenianChurch #Etchmiadzin #TRIPP #ArmeniaPolitics #Groong

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Spotlight on Silence - December 18, 2025

This episode examines a growing pattern of political pressure in Armenia, where journalists, lawyers, activists, and clergy are targeted through criminal prosecutions, selective justice, and coordinated propaganda. Drawing on recent cases and legal analysis, the discussion focuses on how laws such as Article 236 are used to constrain speech, protest, and independent institutions.

Topics:

• Criminalization of Speech and Dissent in Armenia
• Legal Pressure on Lawyers, Journalists, and Clergy
• Selective Justice and Coordinated Propaganda
• Article 236 and the Policing of Protest

Armenian Center for Political Rights (ACPR) Reports:

• 2025-10-17 Statement on case of Aleksander Kochubaev: https://bit.ly/4j7thWK 
• 2025-10-27 Statement on case of Ruben Mkhitaryan: https://bit.ly/4aopzFR 
• 2025-11-14 Statement on case of Antifake: http://bit.ly/48YZOtr
• 2025-12-06 Injustice in Armenia - Part I: https://bit.ly/4qAzhtN

Guest: Rafael Ishkhanyan

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 497 | Recorded: December 13, 2025

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/497

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/-aRS_GqoCjE

#SpotlightOnSilence #ArmeniaJustice #PoliticalPrisoners #FreedomOfSpeech #RuleOfLaw #HumanRights #Groong

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Groong Week in Review - December 14, 2025

Topics:
  - Armenia between EU and Russia
  - Church–state confrontation in Armenia
  - Artsakh concessions and return debate
  - Economy, debt, and governance
  - NSS raids Artsakh offices

Guest: Arthur Khachatryan, MP

Hosts:
  - Hovik Manucharyan
  - Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 496 | Recorded: December 15, 2025

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/496

#ArmeniaPolitics #EUvsRussia #ArmenianChurch #Artsakh #Geopolitics

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Conversations on Groong - December 14, 2025

In this episode of Conversations on Groong, we examine how Venezuela’s vast oil reserves have become entangled in global conflict. The discussion links US pressure on Caracas to efforts to drive down oil prices, weaken Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, and limit Iran’s regional power amid rising fears of a wider war. We also explore how a revived Venezuelan oil sector could disrupt OPEC+, reshape Middle East politics, and alter the balance of power across today’s conflict zones.

Topics:

• Venezuela’s oil and US pressure
• Trump, oil prices, and OPEC+
• Middle East fallout from cheap oil
• Ukraine war and Iran conflict stakes

Guest: Harry Istepanian

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 495 | Recorded: December 11, 2025

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/495

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/g0bH2EFA3GU

#Venezuela #OilPolitics #Geopolitics #USForeignPolicy #EnergyWars

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Groong Week in Review - December 7, 2025

Topics

• 1988 Earthquake Remembered
• Pashinyan’s War on the Armenian Church
• EU-Armenia Relations
• Nagorno-Karabakh Negotiation Documents
• ARAR Foundation Poll

Guest

• Benyamin Poghosyan

Hosts

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 494 | Recorded: December 8, 2025

https://podcasts.groong.org/494

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Groong Week in Review - November 30, 2025

Topics

• OSCE MG Dissolved
• Libaridian on Submitting to Turkey and Azerbaijan
• New Constitution to be Drafted by March 2026
• Archbishops, Letters, Attacks on the Church
• Border Commissions Meet in Baku
• Comments from Jacob Pursley

Guest

• Arthur Khachikyan

Hosts

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 493 | Recorded: December 2, 2025

https://podcasts.groong.org/493

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Conversations on Groong - December 1, 2025

Topics:

• US and Venezuela
• Potential for New War on Iran
• Is Azerbaijan a “Middle Power”?
• Europe’s Confused Geopolitical Identity
• Armenia’s Confused Geopolitics

Guest: Eldar Mamedov

Hosts:

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 492 | Recorded: November 29, 2025

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/SjcJMIis7sg

SHOW NOTES: https://podcasts.groong.org/492

#IranCrisis #AzerbaijanPolitics #EuropeanGeopolitics #ArmeniaSecurity #SouthCaucasus #GlobalPowerPolitics

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Conversations on Groong - November 30, 2025

Topics:

•  Venezuela
•  Ukraine War
•  Gaza
•  TRIPP in Armenia

Guest: Matthew Hoh

Hosts: 

• Hovik Manucharyan
• Asbed Bedrossian

Episode 491 | Recorded: November 29, 2025

Show Notes: https://podcasts.groong.org/491

Video: https://youtu.be/ZZ_n9Mwum30

#Venezuela #AmericaFirst #USForeignPolicy #TRIPP #UkraineWar

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