“We will continue to support the realization of the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination, free of restrictions and coercion. Ensuring the security of the Armenians of Artsakh is a top priority in both the conflict-resolution process and the post-conflict phase, and is non-negotiable.”
Do you think this is an excerpt from the platform of some opposition force today? Or perhaps something written by a “warmonger” trying to provoke tensions? Maybe it’s the work of an uninformed blogger who still hasn’t grasped that Karabakh is Azerbaijan—and that even using the name “Artsakh” might somehow lead, by that same logic, to calling our capital “Irevan”?
No, dear reader, if that’s your guess, you’re badly mistaken. This is taken from Armenia’s National Security Strategy—specifically, a document drafted by the authorities (including the Security Council) and published in July 2020. It contains 11 separate points devoted to Artsakh—yes, Artsakh, not “Karabakh.”
It is hard to imagine that Pashinyan was unfamiliar with this text or did not approve it—he himself has voiced similar positions on numerous occasions. But perhaps, at the time, he simply didn’t know—no one had informed him—that since 1996 all Armenian governments had recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. That the “former elites” had looted the entire army, that the generals had sold off all the weapons, and that, therefore, there was no real possibility of realizing “the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh.”
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In hindsight, you can make—or spin—any claim you like. And the problem is not only that these absurdities are used to justify one’s own failures. That is only half the tragedy. The other half is that this government is spinning not just the past, but the future as well.
Take a look at the National Security Strategy published just six years ago, and judge for yourself how closely reality matches the authorities’ current promises—that they will not allow the “return of Azerbaijanis” to our territory, or that “delimitation” will push Azerbaijani forces out of Armenia’s sovereign land.
That said, it is entirely possible that a certain segment of voters is not particularly concerned with these issues. At least—not yet.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
Image generated using artificial intelligence.
