Sarkis Karapetyan, the eldest son of businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan and head of the Strong Armenia party, addressed French President Emmanuel Macron in French, urging him to meet his father during his visit to Armenia.

Macron is set to visit Armenia to participate in the European Political Community summit. His previous visit took place in 2018 with his wife Brigitte Macron.

“If democratic values matter to you, you must first meet him; he is under detention. We invite you to visit us. You will feel at home,” Sarkis Karapetyan said, according to Sputnik Armenia.

Karapetyan stressed that Macron’s upcoming visit is positive and that Armenian society highly values the friendly ties established between the two countries.

“You are coming to Armenia at the invitation of a man you call your friend, but who is an enemy of the Armenian people. Nikol Pashinyan is not what he claims—he deceives the international community while hiding behind democratic values. He has pushed the country into legal chaos by attacking our church, our diaspora, and his political opponents. Any dictatorship would envy such a large number of political prisoners,” Sarkis Karapetyan said.

In his message, he noted that accepting Pashinyan’s invitation two months before elections has given him another opportunity to mislead Armenian society. The political figure’s son argued that meeting the current leader is not appropriate, as in two months Samvel Karapetyan will become Armenia’s prime minister.

On June 17, 2025, a search was conducted at Samvel Karapetyan’s apartment after he publicly expressed support for the Armenian Apostolic Church, stating that a small group, ignoring Armenian history and the Church’s millennia-old heritage, had attacked the Church and the people. Karapetyan was detained on June 18.

The charges against him included failure to pay taxes, duties or other mandatory payments, money laundering, and actions aimed at seizing power. From December 30, he was under house arrest, and bail was also paid. On April 17, 2026, the court extended his house arrest for another three months, while allowing him to give interviews.