“Within Armenia’s internationally recognized territory of 29,743 square kilometers, Kyarki, as well as the other enclaves, were not included; on the contrary, Artsvashen was included. Now those who say, ‘No, we will not allow it,’ are provoking war,” Nikol Pashinyan said, referring to the issue of Tigranashen and the visit to the village by MPs from the Strong Armenia party.
Nikol Pashinyan is once again threatening war and resorting to blackmail. This is the result of a lack of arguments. Pashinyan has no argument to offer, so when the inadmissibility of handing Tigranashen over to Azerbaijan is raised, he is left with threatening war. Pashinyan does not explain what the basis is for Azerbaijan’s “right.” His statement that Armenia’s internationally recognized territory is 29,743 square kilometers cannot in any way be regarded as the basis for Azerbaijan’s right to Tigranashen or to any of the so-called “enclaves.”
But even that is not the real issue here. The issue is that the Prime Minister of Armenia is consistently laying the groundwork for keeping the Republic of Armenia under “perpetual blackmail.” He is legitimizing the language of blackmail toward Armenia, and doing so at an extraordinarily complex moment internationally, when there is profound uncertainty at the global level. Events are unfolding very rapidly, geopolitical currents are changing quickly, cyclones are swiftly followed by anticyclones, and under these circumstances the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia is effectively legitimizing the use of blackmail against Armenia.
If this is how he speaks to that segment of the public that disagrees with his policies, then there is little doubt that this is also how Azerbaijan will speak to Nikol Pashinyan. Or, rather, Azerbaijan is already speaking to Nikol Pashinyan in precisely this way—with blackmail—and Pashinyan, having no means or diplomatic skill with which to counter it, in turn uses the language of blackmail when addressing Armenian society.
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In this way, he is establishing Azerbaijan’s “right” to blackmail Armenia. To give Azerbaijan the right to blackmail Armenia means giving it many times more than any “enclave.”
Hakob Badalyan
“Aravot daily”
12.09.2026
