Karyak Media Holding, which includes the ArmNews television channel and radio station, as well as the Tert.am news website announced on Thursday it was ceasing operations in Armenia.

In a statement by its founders, the country’s largest opposition-leaning media group cited financial difficulties behind the closure.

‘During this time, we received many political proposals for cooperation and rejected them, because they were at odds with our principles’, the group said. 

‘We also discussed a number of sales proposals, but could not find one that would allow us to maintain our policy and stay true to the path we have passed. So, we made a painful but most natural decision: Karyak Media ceases its activities’.

Karyak was founded by four ex-MPs from the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia:  Arman Saghatelyan, Karen Bekaryan, Mihran Hakobyan, and Samvel Farmanyan. 

Through its various holdings, the media group regularly published harsh criticisms of the post-revolutionary government, especially following Armenia’s defeat in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

According to a recent public opinion poll by the International Republican Institute, ArmNews was ranked as the fifth most trusted media outlet for ‘foreign policy information’ with 5% of the poll’s respondents ranking it as a top choice.