{"id":293334,"date":"2025-04-21T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T11:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=293334"},"modified":"2025-04-15T10:49:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T09:49:42","slug":"armenia-betrayed-the-oppositions-case-against-pashinyans-surrender-and-the-folly-of-western-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2025\/04\/armenia-betrayed-the-oppositions-case-against-pashinyans-surrender-and-the-folly-of-western-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Armenia Betrayed: The Opposition\u2019s Case against Pashinyan\u2019s Surrender and the Folly of Western Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 Apr 2025 –<\/em> As Armenia stands at a crossroads in April 2025, the nation reels from the catastrophic fallout of the 2020 war with Azerbaijan and the subsequent actions of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a leader whom the opposition brands as a traitor to the Armenian people. From the ashes of defeat in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to the signing of a so-called \u201cpeace treaty\u201d with Azerbaijan earlier this March, Pashinyan\u2019s tenure has been a litany of concessions, capitulations, and reckless gambles that have left Armenia vulnerable, humiliated, and stripped of its dignity. The opposition rejects every step he has taken since the war\u2014viewing the peace treaty not as a triumph of diplomacy but as a final act of surrender to an aggressive Azerbaijan bent on erasing Armenian sovereignty. Worse still, Pashinyan\u2019s decision to sever ties with Russia, Armenia\u2019s historical ally, in favor of vague promises from the West is nothing short of absurd, a move that trades security for illusions.<\/p>\n

The War\u2019s Aftermath: A Betrayal of Artsakh<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 44-day war in 2020 was a disaster for Armenia, with Azerbaijan reclaiming most of Artsakh, a region sacred to Armenians as a bastion of their identity and heritage. The opposition holds Pashinyan squarely responsible for this loss, arguing that his incompetent leadership and failure to prepare the military paved the way for Azerbaijan\u2019s victory. Rather than rallying the nation to defend Artsakh, Pashinyan signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 9, 2020, ceding vast territories and allowing Russian peacekeepers to oversee a fragile truce. This was no peace\u2014it was a capitulation that abandoned Artsakh\u2019s people to Azerbaijan\u2019s mercy.<\/p>\n

The betrayal deepened in September 2023, when Azerbaijan launched a lightning offensive to seize the remainder of Artsakh. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled their homes, an exodus that emptied the region of its indigenous population. Pashinyan\u2019s response? Silence and inaction. He blamed Russia for failing to intervene, conveniently sidestepping his own refusal to mobilize Armenia\u2019s forces or seek broader international support during the crisis. The opposition sees this as proof of his cowardice\u2014Artsakh was sold out, its people forsaken, all under the watch of a prime minister who preferred excuses to resistance.<\/p>\n

The Peace Treaty: A Document of Shame<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fast forward to March 2025, and Pashinyan has delivered what he calls a \u201chistoric peace treaty\u201d with Azerbaijan, finalized on March 13. To the opposition, this is no achievement\u2014it\u2019s a disgraceful surrender dressed up as diplomacy. The treaty, which Pashinyan claims will normalize relations and end decades of conflict, comes at an unbearable cost: Armenia\u2019s formal relinquishment of any claim to Artsakh and the acceptance of Azerbaijan\u2019s sovereignty over the region. For the opposition, this is an unforgivable betrayal of Armenian history and the sacrifices of countless soldiers who died defending that land.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s aggressive posture has not softened since the war. Border skirmishes, such as the February 2025 incident that killed four Armenian servicemen, underscore Baku\u2019s relentless hostility. The opposition points to Azerbaijan\u2019s demands\u2014such as forcing Armenia to amend its constitution to remove references to Artsakh\u2019s reunification\u2014as evidence of its intent to dominate and humiliate Armenia. Pashinyan\u2019s willingness to bend to these demands, promising a constitutional referendum by 2027, is seen as proof of his weakness. Instead of standing firm against an emboldened enemy, he has chosen to appease Azerbaijan, trading Armenia\u2019s pride for a paper promise of peace that Baku has no intention of honoring.<\/p>\n

Turning Away from Russia: A Foolish Gamble<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps most galling to the opposition is Pashinyan\u2019s decision to break with Russia, Armenia\u2019s long-standing protector, and pivot toward the West. For decades, Russia has been the guarantor of Armenia\u2019s security, stationing troops along its borders and providing military support through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Yet Pashinyan, frustrated by Russia\u2019s inaction during the 2023 Artsakh offensive, has systematically dismantled this alliance. In 2024, he suspended Armenia\u2019s participation in the CSTO and later announced a full withdrawal, accusing Moscow of failing its obligations.<\/p>\n

The opposition finds this move laughably shortsighted. Russia, for all its flaws, has been a tangible ally\u2014its peacekeepers, though imperfect, were a deterrent to Azerbaijan\u2019s ambitions. Pashinyan\u2019s claim that Russia \u201cplotted with Azerbaijan\u201d to undermine Armenia is dismissed as a paranoid excuse to justify his pivot to the West. And what has the West offered in return? Empty applause and vague assurances. The United States and European Union congratulated Armenia and Azerbaijan on the peace treaty, but where are the security guarantees? Where are the troops, the weapons, the concrete commitments to protect Armenia from Azerbaijan\u2019s next inevitable provocation? There are none.<\/p>\n

Pashinyan\u2019s flirtation with NATO exercises and talk of EU integration are delusions of grandeur, the opposition argues. The West has its own priorities\u2014Ukraine, China, the Middle East\u2014and Armenia is a mere footnote. To abandon Russia, a neighbor with a proven (if imperfect) stake in Armenia\u2019s survival, for distant powers with zero skin in the game is not diversification\u2014it\u2019s suicide. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, grows bolder by the day, and without Russia\u2019s counterweight, Armenia stands alone against a predator.<\/p>\n

The Opposition\u2019s Vision: Resistance, Not Retreat<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Armenian opposition\u2014comprising parties like Armenia\u2019s second largest city Gyumri\u2019s freshly elected mayor Vartan Ghukasyan and figures like Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan\u2014rejects Pashinyan\u2019s entire post-war trajectory. They demand his resignation, viewing him as a failed leader who has bartered away Armenia\u2019s future. The peace treaty must be torn up, they insist, and Armenia must reclaim its resolve to resist Azerbaijan\u2019s aggression, not bow to it. Artsakh\u2019s loss cannot be accepted as final; it must remain a rallying cry for national unity and defiance.<\/p>\n

Relations with Russia should be repaired, not discarded. Moscow\u2019s influence in the South Caucasus is far from perfect, but it is a known quantity\u2014a partner that has historically checked Azerbaijan\u2019s ambitions. The opposition scoffs at Pashinyan\u2019s Western dreams, pointing out that the U.S. and EU have done nothing to stop Azerbaijan\u2019s advances or secure Armenia\u2019s borders. True security lies in pragmatism, not naive faith in distant saviors.<\/p>\n

As of April 5, 2025, Armenia faces a dire future under Pashinyan\u2019s leadership. The opposition warns that his policies have weakened the nation, emboldened its enemies, and left it adrift without allies. Azerbaijan\u2019s aggression is not a relic of the past\u2014it is a present threat, one that Pashinyan\u2019s peace treaty only emboldens. The time for capitulation is over; Armenia must stand tall, reclaim its honor, and fight for its survival\u2014before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Diran Noubar, an Italian-Armenian born in France, has lived in 11 countries until he moved to Armenia. He is a world-renowned, critically-acclaimed documentary filmmaker and war reporter. Starting in the early 2000\u2019s in New York City, Diran produced and directed over 20 full-length documentary films. He is also a singer\/songwriter and guitarist in his own band and runs a nonprofit charity organization, <\/em>wearemenia.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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