Saving premier Pashinyan
"Five-stage special operation" of Armenian propaganda

ANALYTICS  16 April 2022 - 13:25

The progressive steps in the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, clearly outlined after the Brussels summit in early April, cause extreme concern among Yerevan’s revanchists representing the "former ones", as well as people, who continue dreaming of “Miatsum” [a separatist idea based on the demand of the Armenians living in the Karabakh region to join Armenia, which led to the First Karabakh war in 1992–1994] despite their bitter defeat in the war in autumn 2020.

At the same time, taking into account the victory of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his party in the snap parliamentary elections last year, some Armenian people understand that Yerevan has no other way but to normalize relations with Azerbaijan’s Baku and Turkey’s Ankara.

The statements of Pashinyan and the members of the "Civil Contract" party at the Armenian National Assembly this week were made for such people. They [Armenian officials] explained that they do not intend to make mistakes that were made before September 2020.

Leaving aside the sincerity of their real thoughts, we just deplore what we have heard from them. Pashinyan admitted that he could not openly tell ordinary Armenians what the international community expects from Armenia.

"I am guilty of not telling people in 2018 and 2019 that all our close and distant friends expect us to hand over seven districts (around Karabakh) to Azerbaijan somehow and lower the expectations on the status of the Karabakh region. Moreover, I am also guilty of not telling people that the international community recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and expects the Azerbaijani people who left Karabakh to be fully involved in the process of determining its future fate," Pashinyan said.

He added that the Armenian government thinks that Yerevan and Baku must conclude a peace agreement as soon as possible.

Pashinyan’s speech also angered irreconcilable opposition represented by "Armenia" and "I have Honor" blocs that accused the head of the Armenian government of capitulation and betraying the Armenian people’s interests, once again. The media controlled by Armenian ex-presidents Kocharyan and Sargsyan are fiercely criticizing the Armenian government, trying to inflame society, which they believe will help them overthrow Pashinyan and return to power.

However, the Armenian government is also active and is trying to clearly explain its position to society. So, the Telegram channel “Baghramyan 26”, supporting Pashinyan, published a huge article consisting of five parts. “Baghramyan 26” justified Pashinyan's speech, and mainly, his actions. Despite the ambiguity of this propagandistic Telegram channel, we should point out some quotes from this "five-volume article".

The article begins with the attempts of the author (or, more likely, a team of authors from the Prime Minister's office) to explain to the Armenian society that we don’t discuss the issue of “surrender or no surrender” of Karabakh in parliament and political platforms, but allegedly the issue of its preservation.

“We should not yield to manipulation, speculation and emotions. The issue of the status of Karabakh will not be discussed, resolved and signed either now or in the coming years. Russia has repeatedly stated this. Now, Russia has one main goal - to minimize the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict to control it. Such minimization is possible only via Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict settlement or at least a long-term imitation of such a process,” the authors' team said while shifting the responsibility to Moscow, forgetting that Baku has unequivocally stated that Karabakh does not and will not have any special status.

In the second part of the article, the author of the Telegram channel practically reiterates his thoughts by clarifying them.

“In fact, Armenia and Azerbaijan have declared on a bilateral basis that they are ready to participate in the settlement process developed by Russia and in negotiations on a peace treaty,” the Telegram channel mentions Russia again, omitting the fact that these principles were actually discussed on another platform, namely, in Brussels. “For this purpose, Azerbaijan proposed its 5 principles (preconditions), while Armenia - its 3 principles (preconditions).”

Meanwhile, the third part of the "justification" is noteworthy because it says that in general Armenia, and especially remaining Karabakh separatists, have no chance to advance their agenda.

The essence of the last two "volumes" of the article is that Azerbaijan is the winning country, therefore, Armenia, as the losing side, could not but accept Baku's conditions.

In conclusion, "Baghramyan 26" justifies Pashinyan's decision (on 5 principles) by the fact that the international community, even represented by Armenia’s long-term ally - Russia recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

“Could Armenia have opposed the demand of Russia and Azerbaijan to lower the expectations during the negotiations? (for the sake of justice it is necessary to mention that Europe also demanded this)” Telegram channel stressed.

Of course, the opinion of the Armenian public is extremely important for Pashinyan as he once again held the post of prime minister thanks to it. But it is also important for him to freely prepare society for peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey on Baku's terms. But how Pashinyan will do it by making speeches in the National Assembly, spreading huge texts via the pro-governmental media and Telegram channels, or even through the law enforcement officers is of no special interest to us.

Caliber.Az