The Armenian Genocide is Undeniable and Indisputable – Nikol Pashinyan

YEREVAN — Denying, rejecting, or refuting the Armenian Genocide is considered a criminal offense in the Republic of Armenia.
During a press conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized this point while addressing accusations that he had denied the Armenian Genocide in his statements during a meeting with representatives of the Swiss-Armenian community.
He firmly stated that the fact of the Genocide is undeniable and indisputable.
“It is astonishing that someone could be accused of denying the Genocide when they explicitly refer to it as ‘Genocide.’ They are not using alternative words to describe it—they are calling it exactly what it is,” Pashinyan stressed.
The Prime Minister clarified that his statement to the Swiss-Armenian community was about the need to broaden the discussion on the Armenian Genocide as a tool for self-awareness.
*”Shouldn’t the Genocide compel us to re-examine how we perceive the world? Could it be that we have not accurately understood reality—at the beginning of the century, in the middle of the century, at the end of the century, and even today? Is it possible that we rely too much on external encouragement and support? Are we miscalculating our responses to external signals? This question was urgent at the beginning of the century, and it remains urgent today.
And I don’t have the answer. What I am saying is that true self-reflection is crucial. We must go back and reconsider our perceptions and formulas. We constantly discuss the Great Catastrophe (Medz Yeghern), but do we truly understand the historical relationship between the Young Turks and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation? When we politicize this issue and use it as a tool to criticize the ARF today, the entire conversation shifts. It turns into a debate about past versus present, rather than the deeper historical truth. We must acknowledge this and understand it.
Could it be that our interpretations are flawed? Because sometimes, when I see contemporary apocalyptic or messianic interpretations of international events, I realize that our understanding of global affairs may not have changed since the time of Khrimian Hayrik. That is the issue. And it concerns all of us—including myself—because I am one of you. That is the essence of this conversation.”*
The Prime Minister also raised the question of whether certain external forces might have exploited Armenia’s vulnerabilities to hinder the existence of an independent and sovereign Armenian state.
“Could it be that some circles have systematically exploited our weaknesses to make the establishment of a sovereign Armenian state impossible? Could such a thing have happened or still be happening? I have my own answer to this, which I share from time to time, but I do not wish to impose it on anyone,” Pashinyan said.
He also spoke about Armenian identity and the importance of remembering the Genocide, emphasizing that it is not a matter of choice but an inseparable part of identity.
“At the ‘Civil Contract’ party’s Democracy School, I gave a two-hour lecture explaining that the Great Catastrophe is not only undeniable but an integral part of our identity. This is not a matter of wanting or not wanting it to be so. Even if someone wished otherwise, it would be impossible. This truth flows in our veins—it is part of who we are. Anyone who tries to deny this simply does not understand their own people or their own identity,” he concluded.
During his meeting with the Swiss-Armenian community, Pashinyan had stated that there is still a need to understand what exactly happened during the Armenian Genocide, why it happened, and through whom the Armenian people have perceived it. Following this statement, various groups accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of denying the Genocide.