Nikol Pashinyan’s Deceptive Promises On a Nonexistent Peace — By Harut Sassounian

By Harut Sassounian

On August 18, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered a series of misleading, self-defeating statements about peace while addressing the nation.

Since his August 8 White House meeting, Pashinyan has falsely claimed to have brought peace to Armenia. Armenians advise, “don’t take off your clothes before you see the water,” while Americans say, “never count your chickens before they hatch.” In other words, don’t make premature judgments.

Seeing that no one took his claims of an illusory peace seriously, Pashinyan finally admitted last week that peace remains distant: “The President of Azerbaijan and I acknowledged the need to continue further efforts to achieve the signing and final ratification of the Peace Agreement.” Pres. Ilham Aliyev confirmed the same point when, shortly after leaving the White House, he repeated his demand that Armenia amend its Constitution before he could sign the treaty.

In his August 18 message to the nation, Pashinyan defended the proposed road linking mainland Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan by stating that it is “based on respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and jurisdiction of states.” In fact, he is agreeing to cede control of a vital part of Armenia’s territory to a foreign power for 99 years, with the option to extend for another 99 years. If Pashinyan’s intent is to allow Azeris to travel through Armenia, why provide them with a U.S.-controlled “unobstructed transit road,” which means not inspecting their passports and luggage at the border? Since the agreement is supposedly “reciprocal,” why doesn’t Armenia demand a similar U.S.-controlled “unobstructed transit road” through Azerbaijan to Russia?

To prepare the Armenian public for further concessions, Pashinyan declared: “We have expressed our readiness to simplify border crossings.” This is a euphemism for depriving Armenia of any control over Azeris crossing its border. He had previously stated that he was ready “to facilitate” their transit through Armenia.

Pashinyan fantasized that Armenia and Azerbaijan will “chart a path for a bright future…not predetermined by the conflict of the past,” insisting that “conditions have finally been created for our peoples to begin good-neighborly relations….” He twice asserted that “peace has been established between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.” Without any real peace in hand, Pashinyan announced that Armenia’s defense budget will not increase significantly, if at all, while Aliyev, whose military is already armed to the teeth, is planning to buy billions of dollars’ worth of advanced weapons.

In a most insensitive manner, Pashinyan urged Armenians to stop mourning the loss of their family members in the 2020 war: “Even our way of glorifying and sanctifying our martyrs, dealing with their memory, must change drop by drop, millimeter by millimeter.” In effect he is telling grieving mothers to forget the loss of their sons. The message is: “Eat, drink and be merry!”

Pashinyan glossed over Azerbaijan’s occupation of more than 77 square miles of Armenia’s territory since 2021-2022, claiming in advance of any demands by Aliyev that there are also Azeri territories under Armenian control. He expressed the naïve hope that the exchange of territories will be resolved during future border demarcation.

Pashinyan even justified omitting from the initialed peace treaty any demand to release the Armenian prisoners held by Baku, claiming that any reference to the captives would delay their release. The truth is precisely the opposite. Pashinyan has done nothing to secure their release fearing that, once free, they might challenge his shaky authority.

In a final provocation, Pashinyan dared Armenians to rise up against his rule if they oppose his surrender of Artsakh. Otherwise, he claimed, “the public agrees with me.” This is a false presumption, because the overwhelming majority of the population does not support him, as multiple polls have shown. Regrettably, they have become totally disillusioned and want nothing to do with political issues.

Pashinyan demeaned the Karabagh struggle by falsely claiming that it was “used by certain forces as a tool to prevent Armenia’s independence, sovereignty, the establishment and development of statehood.” He thus admitted that he too served as “a tool” for foreign powers when he declared in 2019 that “Artsakh is Armenia. Period.” He now describes as “unrealistic” the possible return of Artsakh Armenians to their homeland. He even says raising this issue is dangerous, damaging to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, and “will become a new source of tension between the [two] states.” He revealed that he had “shared this understanding of mine with official Baku. And I note that yes, it is a dangerous and harmful topic for the newly-born peace.”

Pashinyan ended his series of misstatements by conveying to Armenians the following defeatist message: “Your defeat is inevitable, and you will inevitably lose, because it is impossible to win endlessly.”

Since Armenia’s crushing defeat in 2020, I have urged Pashinyan to resign immediately. A leader who presides over such a major calamity lacks the moral authority and mental fortitude to defend his country’s vital interests.