Pashinyan inventing new history amid efforts to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations
On Jan. 24, Pashinyan met representatives of the Swiss-Armenian community in Zurich. During that meeting, Pashinyan again introduced his concept of “historical” versus “real” Armenia. The latter, his preference, came into being after Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan and among other things differentiates between ethnic Armenians born abroad and actual citizens, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso writes.
As noted, many also consider this to be transitioning from the post-independence third republic to a fourth that coincidentally absolves him from criticism for events leading up to the war that Armenia lost to Azerbaijan in 2020.
Pashinyan also went further by remarking that the number of ethnic Armenians active within their communities amount to just 10 percent of the total living abroad. The remark comes as Pashinyan continues to construct a new diaspora away from the influence of those institutions that have been in place for decades and which now oppose Yerevan’s policy to normalize relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
In Zurich, and on a visit to the United States last week, Pashinyan made that clear in no uncertain terms. It was necessary to “revisit the history of the Armenian Genocide, what it was, and why it happened, and how we perceive it”, he said. He also implied that the international campaign for genocide recognition was a product of Soviet policy during the Cold War given that its target was NATO member Turkey. As noted, some accused Pashinyan of “genocide denial,” a charge he flatly denies. Regardless, his comments were hardly new. In April last year, a prominent parliamentary deputy with Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party had made similar comments, including clarifying how many ethnic Armenians were actually killed. Numbers vary from 600,000 through 1.5 million to 2 million.
And in last year’s annual address to mark the occasion of the anniversary of the events of 1915, Pashinyan used the term “Meds Yeghern,” or “Great Catastrophe”, more often than “Genocide”, again incurring the wrath of his opponents.
But as Armenia almost desperately seeks to move westwards, it is already clear that an open border with Turkey is vital, especially if Armenia seeks to expand its relationship with the European Union. The last time Yerevan attempted to normalize relations, in 2009, Ankara insisted on forming a joint historical committee to assess the events of 1915. It also expected a breakthrough in talks between Yerevan and Baku to resolve their decades long conflict. The same is true today.
Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had already urged Pashinyan to change Yerevan’s official narrative and warned that the “doors of opportunity” do not remain open forever.
