Ashotyan's Open Letter to Pashinyan: "I Still Have the Psychologist's Details, I Didn't Need Them: If You Feel the Need, Let Me Know, I'll Forward Them"

The Deputy Speaker of the Republican Party of Armenia, Armen Ashotyan, has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Below is the full text of the letter:

Dear Mr. Pashinyan,

As a matter of formality, I will address you in this way.

Your Excellency, Prime Minister, from the beginning of your tenure until now, I have been and remain your political opponent and critic, and over these months, I have had numerous opportunities and platforms to express my political views and point out the mistakes, oversights, and errors that you and your government have committed.

In response to my recent live critique of the current state of Armenia's foreign policy, your newspaper, seemingly with your personal touch, attempted to answer me with an editorial. Emphasizing the importance of the questions raised in my criticism, I find it necessary to address your response.

Thus, you were displeased that I called the negotiated package for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during Serzh Sargsyan's tenure the best. I want to stress that I referred to that package as the best, not the perfect, therefore, the compromise theses unfairly manipulated in your article are merely another unsuccessful attempt to mislead the public, especially since you have also grossly distorted the facts.

I have the impression that either you have not read the recent negotiation documents at all, or you have read them but did not understand. As is known, a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is only possible on the basis of compromises. If the counterpart is not prepared for compromises, then we will fight until the end. We have never said anything else. However, you have “gone quite far” by repeatedly emphasizing during your tenure and thereafter boasting of your thesis that “the solution to the issue must also be acceptable to the people of Azerbaijan.”

None of your predecessors exhibited such “magnanimity.” The package negotiated during Serzh Sargsyan's tenure stipulated the final clarification of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding and unrestricted referendum. Let me also remind you how in 2016, the president of Azerbaijan complained during a government meeting that the West was forcing him to recognize the independence of Artsakh.

If instead of discussing the prehistory of negotiations with Aliyev, you had taken the trouble to speak with the Armenian negotiators on this issue, or if you had dedicated a portion of your precious time to a thorough study of the negotiation files, you would have been more honest and accurate in your assessments.

I remember our Q&A session in the National Assembly, during which you, in characteristically indiscreet fashion, threw out a piece of disinformation alleging that our authorities had “only negotiated about surrendering land,” and that if I saw those documents, I would “need a psychologist.” You promised me to show that document, and I mixed acquaintances, found a good psychologist in advance, called your reception twice to arrange a meeting, only to find out that it was in vain, for after several evasions, you personally confessed to me that you regretted your promise.

This is how the myth of the “land-surrendering previous regime” exploded, while my acquaintance, the psychologist, was left without a serious potential visitor.

In your editorial, you essentially confirmed that my accusations regarding your diluting the agreements made in Vienna, St. Petersburg, and Geneva correspond to reality. You did not even try to “save face” and stress that this year, in Stepanakert, you mentioned them in the minutes of the joint meeting of Security Councils, not to mention your Foreign Ministry’s two delayed announcements. You did rightly so, as you understand well that even those mentions were solely for the domestic audience, and for the past 1.5 years, they have not been included in the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

I also thank you for not writing what you were claiming in front of cameras a few months ago: “Azerbaijan insists that no such agreements took place.” Nevertheless, I truly lament that those agreements have been excluded from the negotiation agenda at your light hand, and you consider that normal, which means you are actually correcting Azerbaijan’s diplomatic defeat in the April war.

I also regret that you do not realize the importance of introducing international investigative mechanisms in strengthening peace, preventing new military actions, and creating a healthy negotiation environment.

As for the thesis that “you should be strong enough not to be attacked,” it is also superficial sophistry, as under your leadership, even after the Dushanbe incident, border incidents and casualties have unfortunately become routine, the difference being that in our time, the Ministry of Defense was not concealing information about casualties.

Moreover, dedicate a bit more of your precious time to studying international examples and realize that, for example, even with a developed, powerful, and technological army like Israel, the Israeli-Arab crisis has not been frozen, and no Arab nationalist has ever thought it wise to reconcile with Israel on the grounds that it is much stronger.

In attempting to counter me, you also mention the well-known expression regarding “80s weapons.” In reality, 80s weapons are not old weapons, and I lament again that after assuming the leadership of the state, you have not understood what real message that statement carried and to whom it was directed. By the way, as Prime Minister, familiarize yourself with the list of Armenia’s military armaments and take a deep breath.

As for the military-technical cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, it continues under your administration. Moreover, it was recently revealed that a Russian arms supplier has sued Armenia over one of the supply tenders.

I deeply regret that you have not understood the real causes of the April war, and you bear enormous responsibility for discrediting the results of that war. As the supreme commander during the war, I kindly advise you to swiftly study the alphabet of military art, the purposes of wars – to understand what victory is and what defeat is. I also urge you to read Hrant Ter-Abrahamyan’s article “The Alternative History of the April War” on the timestream.mediamax.am website.

Let’s move on to the capitalization of the revolution.

Yes, the “velvet revolution” you so often glorify has not brought any visible, tangible, and groundbreaking progress to any sector of Armenia’s foreign policy. You know this well and have essentially confessed to it personally in your speech at the ambassador's gathering.

I do not know where you got the idea that I referred to what is commonly called cash. We have never thought that way, let alone work that way. This is more of your modus operandi. Therefore, you compel me to remind you that it was you who first complained from the podium of the National Assembly that the U.S. does not provide you with sufficient support, and immediately after your first visit to Brussels, you shared with Armenian journalists with a smirk at “Zaventem” airport about your dissatisfaction that the EU did not give you large sums, stating that you do not need small change as you can get it by shaking out the pockets of certain large oligarchs (at that time there were still oligarchs in Armenia).

I’m glad when you say that geopolitical reversals will not happen. It is among our objectives that you always think so. It is reassuring that you have understood the experiences of other post-Soviet countries and drawn lessons from them. If you pay attention, you will notice that even amid the fiercest domestic turmoil, we are very nuanced when it comes to security matters. I won’t open parentheses, I hope you understood...

However, I have concerns that not everyone in your supportive political team shares that view. That your close known circles have not abandoned their intentions to turn Armenia into a geopolitical trench. That the propaganda tricks like “you saw how Nikol put Putin in his place” and the absurd votes of certain of your MPs in parliamentary assemblies are not coincidences.

Of course, capitalization is not only financial help, but also the progress of the political agenda. Please answer me, for example, what political issue has made progress with the EU thanks to the revolution? Has the ratification of CEPA sped up? (Let me remind you that in three months, it will be the second anniversary of the signing of the European agreement, considered one of Serzh Sargsyan's major foreign policy achievements. Currently, 12 EU member states, according to the official European register, have yet to complete the ratification process, and under the most optimistic scenario, the Armenia-EU agreement will not be finally ratified by the European Parliament until the end of 2021.) Has the dialogue on visa liberalization started? (There has been no positive movement on this issue either, even the EU's former ambassador and your deputy prime minister Mher Grigoryan, who is openly sympathetic to you, were not optimistic in their latest assessments.) Have you received unprecedented support on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue? (I remind you of Tusk’s and Mogherini’s transparent and sharp hints about the rejection of the proposal to return Artsakh to the negotiation table).

I can also carry out such a meticulous analysis regarding the hollowness of “the capitalization of the revolution” concerning the political agendas with the Russian Federation, the USA, China, Iran, but I will spare your already precious and scarce time in the hope that this saving will not be squandered on yet another absurd live broadcast or attendance at a fair-exhibition but will serve to read a few important documents regarding state security or to have conversations with a few intelligent and knowledgeable individuals or for self-critical internal analysis when being alone.

P.S. By the way, I still have the psychologist's details; I didn't need them. If you feel the need, let me know, and I’ll forward them.

Respectfully,
Armen Ashotyan
Deputy Speaker of the Republican Party of Armenia