Dashnaks’ embassy tour in Yerevan A protest that fell flat

You might find this hard to believe, but there were protests in Yerevan again yesterday. This time, however, they weren't demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Instead, on November 1, the protesters were calling for the release of so-called Armenian "prisoners of war." These are individuals who fought on Azerbaijani territory against the Azerbaijani state. Even the simplest observer could tell you that in any country, such crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Yet, for some reason, the protesters in Yerevan believe a special approach should be taken for Armenian war criminals.

Their destination was the UN office in Armenia, and most of them were members of the Dashnak party. Earlier, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation "Dashnaktsutyun" had issued a statement in connection with the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku. It’s quite amusing to see representatives of a party with a history of using terror as a means to achieve political goals now advocating for peace.

"We demand that the international delegates participating in the conference put pressure on Baku to release all Armenian prisoners unlawfully held in prisons, as well as the military and political leadership of Karabakh who are being held hostage," the statement said.

In other words, the Dashnaks are also calling for the release of the leaders of the Karabakh junta—individuals who have committed serious crimes against the Azerbaijani people and the Azerbaijani state. There is substantial evidence supporting these claims, and any impartial court would confirm the guilt of this violent group. Moreover, they showed little concern for the consequences of their criminal actions, which resulted in the deaths of innocent Azerbaijani civilians. For instance, Arayik Harutyunyan boasted on October 4, 2020, that the missile strikes on the city of Ganja were carried out under his orders. Yet, this criminal and his accomplices are whom the Dashnaks demand be released. They make these demands, potentially creating a stir in Yerevan.

Similarly amusing are the calls from the Dashnaks in Yerevan regarding the holding of the COP29 conference in Baku, which Armenia itself agreed to host in Azerbaijan’s capital. Attending COP29 will be UN Secretary-General António Guterres, presidents and prime ministers from dozens of countries. For example, there will be the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, President of Israel Isaac Herzog, and many others. So, it looks quite absurd for the Dashnaks to think that their protest in Yerevan has any impact.

They are indeed strange characters. They know that the global Armenian community, along with the structures and figures they have nurtured, is going all out to discredit our country ahead of the COP29 conference in Baku. Many politicians from various countries have been engaged in this effort. But what’s the result? Zero. They struggled, made an effort, enriched themselves strictly according to a pre-agreed tariff, and... that’s it.

Against the backdrop of a grand fiasco involving such expensive "actors," the hopes of the Dashnaks and other Yerevan picketers that their demonstration would be anything more than a comical and useless spectacle struck one as profoundly detached from reality. What gave Friday's show an especially absurd character was the wandering of the picketers. They weren’t satisfied with just shouting outside the UN office; they took a stroll to the buildings of the Russian and US embassies in Armenia, where they repeated their toasts, which were loudly proclaimed as demands.

Strangely, they chose to stop there, considering that Yerevan hosts embassies from various countries. They could have approached each one of them. And once they exhausted the embassies, they could have transitioned to visiting the offices of all international organizations. Then, they might as well enter all local institutions, including medical facilities. For instance, they could have gone to psychiatric hospitals to demand the release of members of the Karabakh junta, perhaps even holding signs like: "We are waiting for you, Ruben Vardanyan!"

However, even without all this, the efforts of the participants in Friday's actions in Yerevan were met with nothing but laughter. But therein lies the issue: the Dashnaks and their political accomplices have nothing else in their arsenal.