Saakashvili: Karapetyan is “Armenian Ivanishvili”

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has urged Armenian voters to avoid what he described as the “mistake” of Georgia, drawing a comparison between Armenian businessman and politician Samvel Karapetyan and Georgian ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.

According to Caliber.Az, citing Saakashvili’s Facebook post, the former president warned that Karapetyan represented a political model similar to Ivanishvili’s leadership in Georgia, which he sharply criticised.

“Samvel Karapetyan is an Armenian Ivanishvili,” Saakashvili wrote, adding that Ivanishvili’s rule in Georgia had led to “a dictatorship based on corruption, crime, plundering of national wealth, mass political repressions, limitations on freedom of expression on social media, international isolation, and slavery to Moscow.”

Addressing Armenian citizens directly, Saakashvili cautioned against supporting an oligarch-led political course and urged continued engagement with Western partners.

“Dear Armenian neighbours, is that the kind of country you want to have?” he wrote, warning against what he described as political isolation and economic dependence.

He also argued that Armenia should diversify its energy sources, claiming that Georgia had managed to secure alternative gas supplies at lower prices despite tensions with Russia.

Saakashvili further stated that Armenia currently had support from both Europe and the United States, urging the country not to “freeze" itself out of the world and to avoid repeating Georgia’s political trajectory.

“Long live Armenia!” he concluded.