Why didn’t Pashinyan congratulate Samvel Shahramanyan on his election as the President of the Republic of Artsakh? In an “H1” Public TV interview on Monday, the prime minister explained that he is guided by “the logic of matching and not opposing the logic of the international community.” On May 21, 2020, the swearing-in ceremony of Araik Harutyunyan, the previous President of the Republic of Artsakh, was held in Shushi.
The Prime Minister of Armenia congratulated the President and personally participated in the ceremony. I wonder, at that time, the international community recognized the independence of the NKR and the presidential elections of that state, and wasn’t there a problem with “contradiction” then? And, by the way, at that time, Pashinyan had yet to get to know the Alma-Ata declaration of 1991, which, as he claims now, recognized Nagorno Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan?
Some say that not congratulating Shahramanyan is explained by the fact that the Prime Minister of Armenia did not want to cause Erdogan’s displeasure. Indeed, the President of Turkey would say a couple of sour words on the phone on the occasion of the congratulation. And now he probably encouraged, maybe even praised Pashinyan for his position regarding the Declaration of Independence of Armenia and the coat of arms of Armenia.
But, even Erdogan’s displeasure or praise is not decisive for this government. Their only measure of perception of life is the “own-foreign” gap. They perceived Arayik Harutyunyan as “their own”; they had made some efforts to have Harutyunyan replace Bako Sahakyan (who, of course, was a “foreign”). They consider the new President of Artsakh to be “foreign,” judging by the tendency of the propagandists of the government to strongly condemn the recent change of power and attribute it to Russia.
Read also
Meanwhile, the approach should be state-based, not factional. It is not important who is the President of Artsakh; all Armenians of the world, especially statesmen, should do everything to increase his authority and legitimacy. Because, ultimately, it contributes to the subjectivity of Artsakh.
No matter how I feel about the current Prime Minister of Armenia, I am against the fact that figures like Zatulin or Krivopuskov talk about him without respect; it is not a matter of the person but of the State. Another question is – taking revenge on those Russian figures is unnecessary by not allowing them to enter Armenia. That, in turn, is a non-state approach.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
