Armenian premier`s doctrine of `real Armenia` is actually  capitulation - former FM

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is betraying not only Armenia's past, but  also its future. This statement was made by Vardan Oskanyan, the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry during the time of the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.

The diplomat recalled that each nation bears the burden of its  history, which shapes identity, guides diplomacy and lays the  foundation for future generations.

"When a leader deliberately erases parts of this history to justify  his own failures, he betrays not only his country's past, but also  its future. This is exactly what Nikol Pashinyan is doing. By  rewriting the history of Armenia, he justifies his political failures  and offers the nation only capitulation and defeatism," Oskanyan  believes.

In this vein, he drew attention to the fact that Pashinyan stated  that Real Armenia will be the central idea of his 2026 election  campaign. The diplomat noted that Pashinyan expects the Armenian  people to unite around a vision that requires them to forget their  past, abandon their displaced compatriots, and accept Armenia as a  humiliated and demoralized state.

"He claims that Armenia should accept its current borders, possibly  with further losses, and forget about everything else. This is what  he presents as pragmatism, but in reality it is nothing more than an  escape from its failures in diplomacy and governance. His doctrine of  "real Armenia" is capitulation. By erasing Artsakh from the national  consciousness, Pashinyan is trying to legitimize his people and their  inability to defend their right to self-determination," Oskanyan  wrote on his Facebook account. 

The former head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry noted that history  has repeatedly dismantled that such self-imposed amnesia does not  bring peace, but only more concessions. According to him, a leader  who regularly renounces the basic rights of his people does not  create security, but only gives a pretext for further demands.

"The Azerbaijani regime will not be satisfied with Artsakh.  Pashinyan's continued retreat gives a reason to all those who seek to  weaken Armenia even more. The more he erases history, the more he  gives Armenia's opponents a reason to demand more. The entire nation,  especially the opposition, must realize that this is Pashinyan's  Achilles heel. His vision is not a vision of national revival or  pragmatic statehood.  It is a vision of incompetence, failure, and  "legitimization" of Armenia's decline. The idea that Armenia must  accept its current state as the only possible future is not only  uninspiring, it is downright dangerous.  It sends a signal to the  world that Armenia will no longer fight for its interests, defend its  historical rights, or even respect the suffering of its own people,"  the diplomat noted. 

Oskanyan stressed that no serious nation simply forgets its lost  territories. In this vein, he noted that Greece has never erased the  memory of Constantinople, Poland continues to honor the memory of  Lviv, and Serbia, despite the loss of Kosovo, still considers it part  of its historical narrative.

"The Russian-Ukrainian war will probably be resolved through tough  territorial compromises, but even in such a scenario, Ukraine will  never erase the lost territories from its historical consciousness.  Why should Armenia be different?

We must clearly understand: there is a difference between active  territorial claims and historical truth, between peace talks and  erasing identity. But Pashinyan's defeatist rhetoric serves only his  own political survival. He redefines history not out of necessity,  but out of convenience, because accepting the truth would mean  accepting his own responsibility for the disasters that occurred  under his rule," Oskanyan is sure.

According to him, the Armenian people should not allow "Real Armenia"  to become an excuse for Pashinyan's failures. "This slogan must be  turned against him, showing what it really is: an empty excuse for  incompetence, defeatism, and betrayal of Armenia's dignity," the  diplomat concluded.