Kocharyan’s “press conference”: A pathetic attempt to rewrite history Armenia is “in a nasty jam”

"We're all of us in a nasty jam, he began his words of comfort." This phrase from Jaroslav Hašek's novel The Good Soldier Švejk succinctly and accurately describes the essence of the statements made by the former leader of the Karabakh junta, the second president of Armenia, and now opposition figure Robert Kocharyan during the show he pompously called a press conference. In reality, access to Kocharyan was granted only to loyal journalists who asked pre-prepared and coordinated questions.

Before presenting quotes from Robert Kocharyan’s interaction with his media entourage today, I’d like to remind you of what was discussed last week during the court proceedings concerning the criminal case against Ruben Vardanyan. Vardanyan is accused of torture, mercenary activity, violations of the laws and customs of war, terrorism, financing terrorism, and several other charges under the Azerbaijani Criminal Code. It was revealed that criminal acts were committed on Azerbaijani territory with direct involvement, under the instructions and guidance of the Armenian state, its armed forces, and with material, technical, and other support.

The court also highlighted that the criminal group operating in Azerbaijan was led, either directly or indirectly, by several individuals, including Robert Kocharyan. In other words, given these circumstances, Kocharyan should not be holding a press conference in Yerevan but rather sitting on the defendant’s bench in Baku, alongside well-known figures he is familiar with. Under such conditions, his view on the causes and consequences of the 44-day war and the one-day anti-terrorist operation in the Karabakh region would likely be vastly different from the one he shared today in Yerevan.

Kocharyan, with a provocative and ironically smirking persistence, used the word "Artsakh" while speaking about the product of Armenian nationalists' myth-making. It was a pathetic attempt to present hallucinations as reality. In fact, his entire performance was pathetic. For example, he claims that "the surrender of Nagorno-Karabakh happened in two stages: 2018-2020, before the war, and after the war, up until September 2023."

The most amusing part is that Kocharyan essentially proved the correctness of Azerbaijan's actions. He was outraged by the fact that Nikol Pashinyan shouted in Khankendi that "Karabakh is Armenia, and period." "If that’s the case, then what is there to even negotiate about? Essentially, this was a call to war, and the situation inevitably led to war," noted Kocharyan. His goal is clear — to place all the blame squarely on the current Armenian leadership, personally on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Yes, through his statements and actions, he made the 44-day war inevitable, but Pashinyan clearly never entertained thoughts of "surrender." On the contrary, he dreamt of victory at the time, clearly overestimating Armenia's military and diplomatic capabilities while underestimating Azerbaijan's strength. However, Azerbaijan showed the world what a war of the new generation looks like, with active use of drones and special forces. Armenia, on the other hand, was preparing for a war of the past. And here, it’s important to recall the words of President Ilham Aliyev, spoken in November 2020 during the visit of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to the liberated territories of the country. "We have destroyed the Kocharyan-Sargsyan Army. They are the ones that have destroyed our lands. This time these cowards could not even stick their noses into the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Where is your heroism? The fake ‘hero’ medals you have put on your chests – get rid of that metal scrap and throw them into the trashcan - we have defeated you. Pashinyan is nobody. Kocharyan and Sargsyan, the Azerbaijani people's executioners, the slaughterers of Khojaly, we have defeated you, we have destroyed your Army," – said the head of our state at that time.

So, Kocharyan is simply lying and twisting the truth. This is evident, especially when he claims that "the second grave mistake happened in Prague, when the well-known statement was made, in which Armenia recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan." This is a pathetic manipulation, because no country in the world, including Armenia itself, ever recognized Azerbaijan’s occupied lands as part of Armenia during all the years of occupation. Azerbaijan and Armenia joined the UN and other international organizations within their Soviet borders. What was de jure, due to Azerbaijan's military-political actions, became de facto. And Pashinyan was simply forced to recognize this. The only alternative would have been a new war with Azerbaijan. But Pashinyan could not afford that. And Kocharyan fully understands all of this.

Today, he juggled words that have nothing to do with the outcomes of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The essence of it is simple: Armenia's claims to Azerbaijani lands and the disregard for international law. Azerbaijan merely sought justice, implementing the four well-known UN resolutions. Yet, the former Karabakh separatist and ex-president of Armenia tried to present the situation as if it could have been different, were it not for the geopolitical mistakes of the current Armenian leadership.

Yes, Kocharyan acknowledges that Armenia now finds itself in an extremely vulnerable position. After all, it has pushed Russia away, and relying on the U.S. will not work. The current leadership of the United States itself has already engaged with Russian authorities, urging Europe to take care of its own security. Yes, using the words of a character from Hašek’s novel, Armenia's case is indeed in a nasty jam. But it’s not for Robert Kocharyan to reflect on this. After all, he’s been irrelevant for a long time, even by Armenian standards.