Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stunned the Armenian society inside and outside the country with a passionate statement over the weekend, declaring that Karabakh was not Armenian and that Armenia’s “Karabakh movement was a fatal mistake for us.”
In an electrifying video widely circulated by the Armenian media on Sunday, Pashinyan is seen confronting accusations that Armenia “lost” Karabakh by asking repeatedly, “How was that land ours? How was it ours? Please explain how it was ours?”
Countering decades of prior Armenian national narrative regarding Karabakh, the Armenian prime minister said, “I don’t want to speak behind dead people’s backs, but let’s say under the control of a few generals who planted wheat there for instance, let’s say, was that it? How was it ours? How? Explain it, how was it?”
“Did we build a school there, did we build a kindergarten, did we build a factory, did we live there, a settlement… How was it ours? It was not ours. It was not ours,” Pashinyan emphasised.
In his passionate speech, the Armenian prime minister underlined his decision to continue unabated the historic peace process with Azerbaijan after decades of tragedies over Karabakh.
Pashinyan’s startling statement comes just days after the historic European Political Community (EPC) conference and the EU-Armenia summit, which underscored Armenia’s message to the world — and especially to Russia — that it has now decisively embarked on a pro-European course as it forges peace with Azerbaijan after decades of conflict.
With the June elections looming in Armenia, Pashinyan’s extraordinary statement sets out his government’s position: the country is now decisively looking towards a pro-EU future in a South Caucasus peace that is already bringing strong economic opportunities for Armenia, Azerbaijan and the region.
During the EPC summit in Yerevan, French President Emmanuel Macron seized the moment to hail Yerevan’s break from its past, stating Armenia has consciously chosen the path towards a Europe “from Iceland to the Caucasus”.
“Eight years ago, many saw Armenia as a country heavily dependent on Russia, with its security entirely in Russian hands,” Macron said at the summit, adding that “after the Velvet Revolution, its policy of peace, and its turn toward Europe, we are now witnessing the opening of a new era,” he added.
Aliyev warns anti-Azerbaijan forces in Armenia
Meanwhile Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev warned on Sunday against the upsurge of anti-Azerbaijani forces in Armenia ahead of the June elections, stating that Azerbaijan is committed to a future of peace with its former rival.
“We know that within Armenia’s political sphere there are still circles driven by hatred towards the Azerbaijani people and state, and if they come to power, it is the Armenian people who will suffer,” Aliyev said during the inauguration of a new residential complex in the city of Zangilan, as part of Azerbaijan’s wider plans to rebuild civilian infrastructure in Karabakh.
Aliyev laid the foundation stone for the Zangilan City Park hotel and met with the first returnee families moving into new apartments, saying that Zangilan, situated along a key transport corridor, will be transformed into a transport hub “not only for Azerbaijan but for the entire region,” underlining the new Armenia-Azerbaijan economic cooperation.
Azerbaijan’s president also took aim at what he called “certain foreign leaders” who now portray themselves as “false heroes”.
“Now they allegedly claim to have rescued Armenia from our hands. We had no intention of destroying Armenia or depriving it of its independence,” Aliyev said.
“Yet they portray themselves as if they are protecting Armenia from us. There is no need to protect Armenia from us. We have achieved what we set out to achieve,” he concluded.
Putin calls for Armenia referendum, warns of Ukraine outcome
Armenia’s choice of a pro-European future has finally prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to say on Saturday — right after Pashinyan snubbed his invitation to attend Russia’s Victory Day parade — that it would be “logical” for Armenia to hold a referendum on its EU membership path.
Putin told a press conference that “in my view, it would be right both in relation to the population, the citizens of Armenia, and in relation to us, as the main economic partner, to decide as early as possible.”
“For example, to hold a referendum,” Putin said.
Putin added that the outcome of such a move would be that Russia “would make our own choice as well” and that “then we would have gone down the path of a gentle, civilised and mutually beneficial separation.”
However, Putin underlined that Russia unleashed its war on Ukraine after Kyiv announced its pro-EU course as well, stating, “We are all going through everything that’s happening in the Ukrainian direction right now.
“But how did it all start? With Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU,” Putin said.
Pashinyan replied to Putin on Monday that Yerevan is “not currently planning to put this to a referendum vote.”
“This will only take place when there is an objective necessity,” Pashinyan said, according to Armenia’s APA news agency.
This is “not a matter of political taste, but a matter of transformation,” the Armenian premier added.
Meanwhile, Armenia is not planning to leave the Eurasian Economic Union as “Armenia is a full-fledged member of the EAEU and treats its partners with respect,” according to Pashinyan.