"Real" Armenia and the realities of Yerevan Pashinyan continues to undermine the peace

Yerevan continues to promote the concept of a "real" Armenia, introduced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Speaking in the National Assembly, Arthur Hovhannisyan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract party, affirmed Karabakh's belonging to Azerbaijan and urged Armenians to focus on the "real" Armenia.

"For 30 years, we were forced to love what belongs to others (Karabakh). What do you want from the internationally recognized lands of another country? When you walk the streets of Armenia, do you feel like you're in Van or Yerevan? We all live in the 'real' Armenia, so let's focus on our own country," the Armenian MP said.

Interestingly, statements asserting Karabakh's belonging to Azerbaijan have been made in the Armenian Parliament before. In October of 2024, during a verbal exchange with opposition MP Gegham Manukyan, Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan stated that "Karabakh was and remains internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan." Before this, in an interview with Radio Azatutyun, the Armenian speaker openly acknowledged that Azerbaijan had carried out an operation in Karabakh, backed by at least 3-4 UN Security Council resolutions. Essentially, Simonyan confirmed Azerbaijan's legal right to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty under international law.

The concept of "real" Armenia was introduced by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in April of this year. At that time, Pashinyan stated that "real" Armenia and "historical" Armenia are incompatible, emphasizing that they pose serious threats to each other. Later, in June of this year, during a speech in Parliament, Pashinyan declared that Karabakh should be part of Azerbaijan, highlighting that the Armenian society had misunderstood the "concept of self-determination and the status of Karabakh."

"The clerical-feudal elite of Armenia deceived and misled the Armenian people about Karabakh to seize and maintain power. That is the whole truth about Karabakh," Pashinyan said.

Following this, in September of this year, the Armenian leader once again emphasized this issue at the Second Global Armenian Summit, stating that official Yerevan had adopted the concept of "real" Armenia as a necessary condition for the continuation of the state's existence.

Unfortunately, the statements by Armenian officials regarding Karabakh's belonging to Azerbaijan are largely declarative and are not backed by concrete steps and actions. By promoting the concept of "real" Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan has not shown any urgency in amending Armenia's Constitution, which still retains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The contradictory policy of the Armenian authorities is further demonstrated by the following fact: Armenia has acknowledged that the territory of Azerbaijan, totalling 86.6 thousand square kilometres, includes Karabakh. However, it proposes signing a truncated document instead of a comprehensive agreement without making corresponding amendments to its constitution.

From Yerevan’s inconsistent policy, it can be inferred that, firstly, the concept of "real" Armenia is merely another attempt by Yerevan to mislead the international community about its supposed commitment to peace in the region. Secondly, Armenia’s refusal to participate in COP29 demonstrates that long-term peace is not a priority for Yerevan.

On the contrary, Armenia continues to militarize actively, acquiring new weapons. Recently, the Indian Defence Research Wing (IDRW) reported that Armenia is in negotiations to purchase 78 units of the towed artillery system ATAGS. Armenia has also previously purchased Pinaka rocket systems and other types of Indian-made weaponry.

Therefore, it would be logical for Armenia, instead of making declarative statements about Karabakh's belonging to Azerbaijan, to take concrete steps and actions in this direction. To do so, Pashinyan's government should quickly organize a referendum to amend the constitution and permanently renounce territorial claims against Azerbaijan. This is the only way for Yerevan to convince Baku of its commitment to peace—no other options will suffice.