In line with Aliyev’s demands for the “denazification” of Armenia, Pashinyan intends to draft and adopt a new Constitution that will omit any mention of the Declaration of Independence—which, in turn, references Artsakh and the Genocide. Aliyev claims that this will ensure no future Armenian government raises the issue of Artsakh. However, he surely understands that no constitutional text can provide such a guarantee. If a future government seeks to reclaim what was lost (and I attach no negative connotation to the word “revenge”), no wording in the Constitution—or even the absence of one—will prevent it. The real objective here is not just to erase legal references but to break and humiliate us in the present. And Aliyev’s key accomplice in this endeavor is none other than Pashinyan.
But it is not only our Constitution that the Pashinyan-Aliyev duo deems “fascist”—our state symbols are also under attack, and the process of “denazification” is set to continue in that direction. The most “Nazi” symbol, of course, is Armenia’s coat of arms, which depicts Mount Masis. According to Erdogan, Aliyev, and Pashinyan, this symbolizes Armenia’s supposed territorial claims over Turkey. In reality, Masis is a biblical mountain, not just a state emblem but a deeply rooted national symbol, integral to our cultural heritage. Take, for example, the hymn “The Cart Descended.” Where did the cart descend from in Narekatsi’s hymn of the Resurrection?
National identity is like a coiled spring—the more you compress it, the stronger it rebounds. This was observed by the German sociologist Georg Simmel back in the late 19th century. But if a spring is pressed too hard, it can snap—and there are signs that ours already has.
When Aliyev’s constitution is put to a referendum, how do you think the majority of Armenian citizens will vote? More than half, of course, will not participate. And of those who do, a majority will likely vote in favor, with the justification: “We won’t be enemies forever. We’ve been grieving for a hundred years, and what has it brought us? Let’s finally live in peace.”
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From this, I conclude that we are broken.
…Oh, and I nearly forgot—changing Armenia’s state symbols was planned as far back as the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
