The ruling party’s main propaganda card in the upcoming parliamentary elections is this: Pashinyan has brought peace to our country; under any other leader (especially Robert Kocharyan), there would be war.
Any objection — that Pashinyan has brought defeat and devastation; that what we have is not peace, but a temporary suspension of hostilities until the elections; that Turkey and Azerbaijan have never abandoned their goal of destroying Armenian statehood — all such arguments are brushed aside with a single “powerful” retort: “So, you want war?”
Even those who don’t feel any particular sympathy for Pashinyan, and who dislike the fact that he complies with all of Aliyev’s demands, often say: “But if he doesn’t comply, there will be war.”
Although I don’t agree with this view, let us — for the sake of argument — accept that Azerbaijan’s whims must be treated as law by Armenia’s leadership. Even then, we should at least determine: what are the limits of this humiliation, of this servility?
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Let us recall: the blockade of Artsakh began in December 2022, after Pashinyan recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan during the Prague meeting. Initially, the blockade was enforced by representatives of Azerbaijan’s so-called “civil society,” people who called themselves “environmental activists.”
In reality, this “environmental protest” was, of course, an operation carefully orchestrated by the neighboring state — in particular, by its special services. These fake “environmentalists” knew perfectly well that the Russian “peacekeepers,” whose duty was to ensure the uninterrupted functioning of the Lachin Corridor, would not interfere with the blockade.
Because of those agents posing as “environmentalists,” the people of Artsakh — including children — were deprived of food and basic conditions for survival.
And now, one of those same agents, masquerading as a representative of “civil society,” comes to Yerevan and holds discussions about “peace” with our NGOs and officials.
One simple question: if that woman had been denied entry to Armenia, would war have broken out?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
