Alexander Pracht
A major brawl broke out in Armenia’s parliament today between lawmakers from the ruling Civil Contract party and the opposition Strong Armenia party.
The altercation began as Civil Contract lawmaker Taron Chakhoyan was delivering a speech at the podium. He was interrupted by Strong Armenia leader Narek Karapetyan, and a verbal exchange between the two quickly escalated into a physical confrontation, with dozens of lawmakers from both sides rushing toward the podium.
The dispute was triggered by Chakhoyan’s remarks about members of Karapetyan’s family.
“They talk about targeting family members. Mr. Karapetyan, it’s not my fault that your entire family is involved in politics. Your uncle, your father, your cousin are all actively engaged in political activities. Moreover, your cousin even wanted to establish a ministry in our country. I’m sorry, it’s not my fault that he wanted to open a ministry that, in their own words, was supposed to satisfy all women. And to this day, he has not apologized,” Chakhoyan said.
The remarks prompted a wider brawl, with lawmakers ending up throwing objects, including bottles and chairs, at one another and splashing water.
Chakhoyan was referring to Karapetyan’s uncle, Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who founded Strong Armenia, and his son Sargis Karapetyan, a fellow party member. In February, Sargis Karapetyan suggested that Armenia establish a “ministry of sex” to “leave no woman in the country unsatisfied.”
The proposal sparked backlash from women’s rights activists and broader civil society, whether it was intended as a serious policy proposal or as a pre-election attempt to attract attention.
After the parliamentary session resumed, Narek Karapetyan downplayed the incident, describing it as a normal part of parliamentary life.
“What happened in parliament today is a normal process in parliamentarism. People who hold different views can have conflicts,” he said.
Armenia in the global spotlight, but for a wrong reason
The brawl quickly went viral in Western media, attracting coverage from outlets including NBC, Al Jazeera and CNN. The latter also posted a short video report of the incident on social media, which went viral and drew criticism from Armenian users. Numerous commenters called out CNN for giving limited attention to what they described as more consequential developments in Armenia, including the 2023 ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s broader aggression against Armenians.
The incident also gained traction on X, formerly Twitter, where fabricated accounts of what had happened attracted tens of thousands of likes, putting Armenian politics in the international spotlight.
For example, a Spain-based user Nicolás Ríos shared footage of the brawl alongside an invented explanation of the events.
“Meanwhile in Armenia: the opposition proposes creating a ‘Ministry of Unsatisfied Women’ to improve birth rates. Then the government spokesperson asks them if their mothers are going to be in it. The rest is history and an ode to post-Soviet parliamentarism,” the post said.
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