We leave behind a year filled with turbulent events, during which we witnessed developments that inspired hope for Armenia and the entire region, while the Middle East continued to endure a tense situation marked by ongoing crises and human suffering.
Undoubtedly, the most significant achievement of 2025 was the August 8 joint Armenia–Azerbaijan–U.S. declaration signed in Washington, as well as the initialing of the agreement on establishing peace and interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Thanks to these milestones, a new chapter of sustainable peace, economic cooperation, and prosperity has opened in the region.
In addition, the deepening of Armenia–European Union strategic and economic relations not only paves the way toward new and alternative European markets, but also creates a realistic prospect for Armenia’s future membership in the European Union.
Despite these encouraging developments, several serious and urgent issues remain unresolved. These include the fate of Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijani prisons, the restoration of the rights of Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, and the preservation of Armenian historical and cultural heritage remaining in the territory of Artsakh.
Meanwhile, the Middle East continues to be one of the most volatile regions in the world. Despite ceasefire arrangements and agreements on the exchange of detainees, the population of the Gaza Strip continues to live under harsh conditions, facing the ongoing threat of Israeli military operations.
At the same time, southern Lebanon is subjected to daily targeting by the Israeli air force, placing an already exhausted country under even heavier political, social, and economic pressure. In Syria, the new authorities are striving on the one hand to preserve the country’s unity and, on the other, to ensure basic living conditions for the population.
Naturally, this unstable and uncertain situation negatively affects the social and economic life of Armenian communities throughout the region. Our hope is that 2026 will bring lasting and sustainable peace to the Middle East, enabling its peoples to live and create in their ancestral homelands.
We welcome the New Year with optimism and with the hope that 2026 will become a turning point in Armenia’s modern history—marked by the establishment of lasting peace and by economic and social progress.
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas.
Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
Central Committee
01/01/2026
