“The Declaration of Independence is a landmark document that laid the foundation for our current statehood.” This entirely correct, indisputable statement was made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on August 23, 2023, on the occasion of the Declaration’s anniversary.
Two and a half years later, Pashinyan declared: “The Declaration of Independence is a declaration of conflict and, as a result, a declaration of dependency.” Dependency, apparently, “on friendly Russia,” which, according to the same authorities, is waging a “hybrid war” against us. But that is beside the point.
What prompted Pashinyan to change his opinion so sharply – 180 degrees – in just two and a half years, not about some secondary issue, but about the founding document of our state itself? One could, of course, assume that, like the prophets of the Old Testament, he received a divine vision and was commanded from heaven, “Tell your people that the Declaration of Independence is a document of conflict.”
But since I do not believe in this mystical version, the only explanation for this metamorphosis is that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev placed such a demand before Pashinyan. The rest is a matter of linguistic flexibility or, to put it more bluntly, “tricks.” Naturally, people without enough intellect or preparation will believe that the Declaration of Independence was not conflictual for 35 years, and that their idol also thought so, and then suddenly it became conflictual.
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The same goes for Mount Ararat. For decades, it was a national symbol, and in the last 2-3 years, it has once again become “conflictual.” And the same naive people will again believe the “trick” that a national symbol implies an attack on a neighboring country. Or – if I say that Mesrop Mashtots opened a school at the Amaras Monastery, that is a call for war against Azerbaijan.
In 2021, Nikol Pashinyan was handing out “Proud Citizen” passports to citizens, which included the map of Armenia together with Artsakh. Now he is handing out pins – without Artsakh. If this continues, by the 2031 election campaign, he will be handing out the map of Armenia without Syunik, saying, “Well, what do you want, do you want a war? Instead, we are independent and sovereign.”
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
