Tragicomic Tonoyan and the illusion of Armenia’s invincibility From bravado to disgrace

The statement by former Armenian Defence Minister Davit Tonoyan, in which he once again attempted to justify the crushing defeat of the Armenian army in the 44-day war of autumn 2020, is nothing more than a pitiful attempt to rewrite history.

His remark that “the Azerbaijani side provoked the war” is a worn-out refrain that long ago lost even the faintest trace of credibility—not to mention the fact that it is utterly divorced from reality.

Five years have passed since the end of the Second Karabakh War, yet Tonoyan continues to speak in the same tone as during the conflict—with confidence, bravado, and self-satisfaction. However, all this is nothing but tinsel concealing the obvious: it was his irresponsible rhetoric, political blindness, and failure to grasp reality that became one of the factors behind the Armenian army’s defeat.

Tonoyan’s infamous phrase, “New war – new territories,” became one of the symbols of that false confidence with which Armenian society had lived for years. And now the former minister claims that it was merely “a family conversation,” intended “for an internal audience.” The only thing left for him to say is that he uttered it while in a state of severe intoxication. In short, Tonoyan could well be compared to one of the heroines of the Soviet comedy The Diamond Arm, who lamented: “It’s not my fault! He came on his own!”

However, no matter how he twists and turns, it was precisely such “internal conversations” that helped create the collective illusion of the “invincibility of the Armenian army.” In fact, the defence minister of a country on the brink of war, instead of soberly analysing the balance of power, was busy stirring up the public. Not only did he fail to prepare society for reality, but he deliberately fed it with myths. And when the mirage vanished, he was the first to try to absolve himself of responsibility.

Listening to Tonoyan, one might think that everyone but him is to blame — the international situation, the so-called “Azerbaijani provocation” — although in reality, let us emphasise once again, Azerbaijan was restoring its territorial integrity in accordance with the UN Charter.

All of this together sounds like the babbling of a schoolboy trying to justify an unlearned lesson, while Tonoyan himself appears downright tragicomic—desperately trying to conceal his own impotence and refusing to acknowledge the obvious: Armenia lost because it had long lived in a state of self-deception.

For years, the Armenian political and military elite had been feeding society with the following dogmas: “the status quo is eternal,” “Azerbaijan has accepted the situation,” “the Armenian army is invincible,” and “Karabakh is eternally Armenian land.”

Tonoyan was not merely part of this system—he was at its vanguard, just like the Armenians who had been illegally residing on the then-occupied Azerbaijani lands, convincing themselves and others that this was “forever.” It is worth recalling that during the 44-day war, they swore they would “never leave Karabakh,” that they would “stand to the last,” boasting with pompous pseudo-philosophical phrases falsely attributed to Herodotus and Pliny the Younger, and constructing narratives steeped in falsehood about the “centuries-old steadfastness of the Armenian spirit.”

All of this shattered against the granite of reality. The myth of the Armenian army’s invincibility collapsed under the onslaught of the Azerbaijani state’s “Iron Fist.” Armenian servicemen disgracefully fled the battlefield, abandoning—like useless scrap—the weapons and equipment they had so proudly displayed at their “parades,” which proved worthless in the face of modern technology and Azerbaijan’s organised strategy. And those who only yesterday had loudly proclaimed the “eternity of Artsakh” fled in haste behind the deserting soldiers and officers, carrying away their household belongings, window frames, and even toilet bowls.

Tonoyan is cut from the same cloth—only instead of plumbing fixtures, he now carries a sack full of statements from which he frantically tries to distance himself, saying things like: “That’s not what I meant,” “It wasn’t meant for everyone,” or “I was misunderstood.” But the more he tries to evade responsibility, the deeper he sinks into the quicksand of his own lies.

Facts, as we know, are stubborn things. And in this case, the fact is that the statement by Armenia’s then defence minister—“New war – new territories”—was a reflection of the Armenian belief that foreign lands could be held by force, in defiance of international law and common sense. That arrogance cost Armenia dearly.