Pashinyan, inspired by West, dreams of ‘great army’

Editorial

There is a saying that to know your enemy, strain his patience.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was remembered for his unique but a little bit spiced-up statements he made the other day.

The process of peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan is still delayed due to long and winding discussions. Although the reason has not yet been fully disclosed, it became clear from tones of expressions in the Prime Minister's statements.

"In recent years, the government has signed contracts for the purchase of weapons and ammunition worth several billion dollars."

Why is Armenia, instead of being interested in opening the borders with Turkiye in the region and signing peace with Azerbaijan, joining a number of large-scale projects, it is heading towards France and distant India through the ulterior motive of neighboring Iran? From the above-mentioned Pashinyan's speech, it is already clear that for Armenia, it is not the economy playing vital role, but its military power that forms the main pillar of revanchism.

If we take a closer look at the processes, we can say that Pashinyan does not need to get into so much trouble to increase his military potential. Because, on the one hand, Armenia remains a landlocked state with lesser option to expand its economic cooperation, and on the other hand, the sharp decrease of interest in the military in the country does not require spending billions of drams on expensive weapons. As important as weapons are in the military, manpower and morale play a leading role. However, as mentioned in the speech of the Armenian Prime Minister, desertion in Armenia is constantly increasing.

When it comes to military evasion in Armenia, this can also be called the awakening of national consciousness. The population, which had a rational approach to the processes, was aware that in 2020, they had lost lives and material in vain in Garabagh. Fighting on someone else's territory and introducing the concept of a false homeland by convincing oneself hypothetically is not as easy as words say. When a normal Armenian family sends their child to the military, knowing why and for what purposes he will fight, this will make no sense to equip him with French or even NATO weapons. So reality cannot be considered the same as dreams. Pashinyan's dreams of building a "great army" are partly inspired by the West.

“The RA military-industrial complex has an unprecedented order from the RA government for several hundred million dollars," Pashinyan said.

The administration of Yerevan, which increases the country's budget through illegal income or literally by circumventing the sanctions imposed by the West and Europe, its selfish ally, is struggling with the project of building a powerful army, half by borrowing and half by using all available funds. This kind of unprecedented progress is presented by Armenia as a first. As for the signing of the peace treaty, Armenia should first of all sit at the table with priority issues related to the region, not with the thesis of third parties trying to influence in various ways.

The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has repeatedly stated in his speech that "Azerbaijan has no eyes on the territory of any state". The fear of invasion and attack in Yerevan is only because it sees itself as weak. The fact that a state that once occupied the lands of another state has become devoid of many opportunities and miserable after its humiliating defeat. Armenia, which once saw the Russian peacekeeping forces in Garabagh as a source of hope for itself, is now following impossible dreams by turning to the West. However, this does not indicate a bright future for Armenia.