On July 4, near the National Security Service headquarters—where detained businessman Samvel Karapetyan’s supporters had gathered—attorney Aram Vardevanyan shared a message from Karapetyan via his defenders. The message proclaims that “the time has come to unite around a fundamentally new force,” and asserts that Prime Minister “Nikol Pashinyan and his government have no role in Armenia.”

Karapetyan addressed his compatriots, saying recent days were “among the most important” of his life. Despite being unlawfully detained, he felt neither isolation nor loneliness, warmed by support from both friends and thousands of strangers. He expressed gratitude: the solidarity made the jail bars feel insignificant.

Yet he stressed that this support brings responsibility. First, “most of our citizens agree with me,” and believe that a small group denying Armenia’s traditions for narrow interests cannot trample our identity or attack the Armenian Apostolic Church—and “we will not allow it in our own way.”

Second, the people’s solidarity shows that “it is not I who am isolated in the cell, but today’s authorities”—they are alienated from the Armenian people, historical values, and Armenia itself. He called to “not just acknowledge this reality but make it visible through civilized political struggle.”

“Pashinyan and his government have no role in Armenia and should have no place in the future of the Armenian people,” Karapetyan stated, adding: “I am ready to take the path of struggle for our country and our native land—no one else will build or defend it for us.”

He reiterated that “the time has come to unite around a fundamentally new force, to become a single fist.” Armenia must become prosperous, modern, just, secure, internally united, defending the rights of Artsakh residents, truly sovereign and trusted ally, restoring dignity and leaving behind division, discord, broken diaspora ties, uncertainty for youth, oppression, violations, defeat, humiliation, poverty, and despair.

“I know how to achieve all this,” he affirmed. “And we will do it together.” He concluded: “Together we must show the world that this is the form worthy of Armenians—together toward a new and better chapter in our history.”