By Harut Sassounian
TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke on Sept. 17, 2026, at the “Comprehensive Security & Resilience 2026” international conference in Yerevan, organized by the think tank Women & Global Security Architecture. Among those present were the Ambassadors of Great Britain and Finland.
During his lengthy remarks, Pashinyan made a series of statements that are contrary to Armenia’s national interests, admitting that he has made numerous concessions in the hope of achieving an elusive peace. He described his approach as avoidance of the “ping-pong” policy of “mechanical reciprocity.”
Pashinyan’s major mistake is that he foolishly believes — and is trying to convince the gullible Armenian public — that he has established peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. No matter how many times he repeats his false claim of a non-existent peace, Pres. Aliyev refuses to sign the negotiated peace agreement, even after stating that he has dictated all 17 points of the proposed text. Aliyev is not finished with his demands for concessions from Pashinyan. Why should Aliyev stop, seeing that Pashinyan is accepting all of his demands? Even after going to the White House on August 8, 2025, to meet with Pres. Trump and Pashinyan, ostensibly to sign the peace agreement, Aliyev refused to sign it. He merely initialed it.
Without realizing it, Aliyev is doing a big favor for Armenia by refusing to sign the so-called peace agreement which is replete with concessions to Azerbaijan. He has repeatedly demanded that the Republic of Armenia change its constitution, a demand Pashinyan has sheepishly accepted. This demand may seal the fate of the peace agreement if Armenia’s citizens refuse to approve the new constitution in a referendum.
Pashinyan falsely claimed that “basing the country’s foreign and security policies on internationally recognized political and legal principles has helped remove previous obstacles to Armenia’s access to international arms markets.” This is what happens when an incompetent “leader” makes ignorant decisions on behalf of the Republic of Armenia. International arms sales are not based on a country’s boundaries or policies. They are primarily based on the country’s ability to pay for the purchase. No one cares about internal or external problems. If you have the money, that is the only thing that the seller cares about. This is how international trade works. Countries that manufacture weapons are willing to sell them to anyone who has the ability to pay, regardless of the buyer’s violations of human rights or international laws.
The craziest thing Pashinyan said at the conference was: “We were five minutes away from losing the statehood and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.” He was referring to Azerbaijan’s occupation of eastern parts of the territory of the Republic of Armenia in September 2022. Azerbaijan was successful in that attack because Pashinyan, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, had given the orders not to return fire when Azeri soldiers crossed Armenia’s borders.
Armenia is now on the verge of collapse because of Pashinyan’s numerous concessions to Azerbaijan which only encourage Aliyev to demand more. Why should he stop when he sees that the Prime Minister of Armenia is willing to give him everything he asks for? Until Pashinyan came to power in 2018, Armenia was able to defend its territory and sovereignty. Because of Pashinyan’s incompetent leadership and provocative actions and statements against Azerbaijan, Artsakh was lost, and soon, perhaps, Armenia will be as well.
In his speech, Pashinyan attacked an unnamed history teacher who reportedly told his students: “Children, know that you must grow up and go to liberate Moush and Van.” No one knows whether this story is true, but the problem is that Pashinyan, who single-handedly makes all decisions for the country, is now trying to dictate what one teacher supposedly told his students. Pashinyan has no right to interfere in what happens in a classroom. He has much more critical issues to be concerned with. He has not understood that individuals have the freedom to express themselves in a democratic country. No government official should pressure the people on what subject they can talk about. The situation is completely different when it comes to what declarations the Prime Minister makes. He should neither demand Armenian lands from Turkey nor say that he does not have such demands. What a regular persons says has no consequence. But, what the Prime Minister says can have serious political and military consequences. Because of that, he should simply remain quiet.
Even though the Armenian government cannot do much right now about the lost territories of Artsakh and Western Armenia, it does not mean that those lands should be forgotten. Someday, when the geopolitical situation in the region changes, Armenians can seek to regain their lost territories, but only if they have not given up. Such a situation may well arise in the future, long after Pashinyan has left the scene. In the meantime, he should not pledge to hand over our historical rights to our enemies forever.
