I was curious because Armenia is one of the strongest chess countries in the world (with players like Levon Aronian - picture above) and consistently makes the impossible feat of winning medals in the chess olympiad. Here's what Wikipedia has to say..

In May 2016, during his visit to Yerevan, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that, after talking to President of Armenia and chairman of the Armenian Chess Federation Serzh Sargsyan, he heard no refusal from Armenia and thus Armenian Chess Players will take part in the Chess Olympiad in Baku. Vice-President of the Armenian Chess Federation Smbat Lputian said in a statement, however, that Armenia is still discussing the matter and has not decided on its participation yet.[15] In July 2016, Lputian announced that Armenian chess team will not depart to Baku to participate in the Chess Olympiad. He explained that the decision was made based on the discussion results in the federation.

~ full article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_at_the_42nd_Chess_Olympiad