Nikol Pashinyan Addresses Perceptions of Family Models in Society

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, made a post on his Facebook page addressing the perceptions of family models in society. He stated, "You all know how important the concepts of home and family are for every Armenian. These concepts define each of our identities, dignity, and origins.

But unfortunately, a reality has formed over the years where many detrimental phenomena have often been legitimized in our society through the values of maintaining a family and having a home. Sometimes corruption, nepotism, injustices, and various illegal activities have been explained and legitimized by the understandable necessity of maintaining a family, earning a living, and providing material resources for the household.

The concepts of home and family have even survived political mutations, evolving under the logic of clan and factional structures. As a result, we have found ourselves in a situation where the family’s interests have been put in opposition to the interests of society due to corrupt systems, where the home has become a territory separated from the motherland and acting against it behind high walls.

I am convinced that in the new Armenia, the concepts of family and home must have new relationships with the motherland, with society, and with the state, where the interests of the family should not be opposed to the interests of society, where the interests of the home should not be contrasted with the interests of the motherland, where the home and family should not be closed small areas surrounded by walls and gates, but rather a nation enclosed within state borders, interacting with its people through a constitution and laws.

Armenia is my home; the people are my family. This must be the slogan that drives each of us forward, where the interests of each of our families harmonize with the interests of society, where the interests of each of our homes harmonize with the interests of the motherland, where the dignity and freedom of each individual harmonize with the dignity of society and the concepts of the motherland's freedom.

This is one of the most important agendas for value transformation in the new Armenia, and it was this change in perception that led to the pan-Armenian revolution in the spring of 2018 when people perceived each other as relatives, and the people saw themselves as one large, happy, harmonious family. This is why each of us, every Armenian in the world, can confidently say: ‘Armenia is my home; the people are my family.’ And it is this united Armenian people that is unbreakable and invincible."