Collectively Combating Kleptocracy - Armenia: The Velvet Revolution and Taking Steps Against Kleptocracy

Democracy That Delivers

In 2018, widespread protests dislodged a decades-long kleptocratic regime in Armenia. Known as the Velvet Revolution, these protests represented a culmination of decades of civil society organization and activism and the first surge of revolutionary action against Serzh Sargsyan following his attempt to cling to power.

In this episode of Collectively Combating Kleptocracy, Gayane Abrahamyan, an award-winning journalist and social justice activist, who served as a member of the Armenian Parliament as part of the My Step alliance, joins the host, Max Levites (Senior Governance Specialist, Center for Global Impact, International Republican Institute), to discuss the key foundations and mechanisms that fostered a unity between civil society and citizens, leading to the Velvet Revolution. Abrahamyan shares her unique perspective on the trajectory of this unity and the involvement of marginalized groups while also outlining the importance of Armenia’s new-found democratic narrative as an outcome of the Velvet Revolution, among other short-term but key successes.