The Power of Those Who Shouted 'Dukhov' Now Implies That 'Nikola is Serge's Project' - Mikael Minasian

Former Ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See Mikael Minasian wrote on his Facebook page: “Armenia held its breath for two days listening to Serzh Sargsyan's interview. It's a cruel twist of fate that a man who was in power for ten years, visible to all, is only now being heard after leaving office.

After the interview, I thought that despite his challenging fate and the openly ungrateful attitude towards him, Serzh Sargsyan continues to be a good man, a balanced actor without any aggression or bitterness, striving to serve his country. This behavior is embarrassing, refreshing memories and prompting an apology.

I apologized to him once back in 2018. I said that despite my disagreement with some of his decisions, I apologize for leaving him alone. Three years later, looking back, I want to publicly apologize. In 2012, I went in pursuit of my own fate to establish myself as an individual, as a diplomat, and also to reconsider my principled disagreements with Armenia’s domestic life. I managed to do this to some extent, yes and no. Now I understand what Serzh Sargsyan wanted; he was defending the state and, as strange as it may sound, from his own people too. Perhaps this is why he ended up alone.

This does not mean that Serzh Sargsyan is flawless, nor that his years in power were fairy-tale-like. He is also to blame for today’s situation, but after three years of piecing together the facts, you realize that he was largely right, and we were wrong. A rational person must apologize for their mistakes. Many owe Serzh Sargsyan an apology.

His party members, who during the country’s governance placed all the responsibility on one man, often did not dare to be honest, opted for obedience instead of adequacy, and chose silence over truth. However, it must be noted that the Republican Party has conducted itself honorably during these three years, showing that it has acknowledged its share of guilt, cleaned its ranks, and transformed from a ruling force into the largest, most cohesive, and organized national-political force in Armenia.

The elite and the people also owe Serzh Sargsyan an apology. Perhaps he miscalculated or was insufficient, but everyone turned against him because they thought defending him was shameful. And the strangest thing is that now the loudest critics are those who betrayed him, their own interests, and the country. They claim they were deceived by Nikol, blaming Serzh Sargsyan (and no one asks why he is to blame if they decided to blindly love an ignorant non-entity).

Serzh Sargsyan is being stoned by some of Robert Kocharyan’s current followers, trying to obscure their constant and proud presence at Nikol's rallies in April-May 2018, where they shouted 'Dukhov' with all their strength, and now imply that 'Nikola is Serge’s project'. This raises a natural question—did he send them there too?

Apologies are owed by Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s ‘offspring’, who over the years became the ‘sect of abijhniks’ and forgot that Serzh Sargsyan returned their leader and themselves to society after March 1. Serzh Sargsyan tried to restore public harmony, accommodating figures from Vagarshak Harutyunyan to Andranik Kocharyan, who merely ten years later proved their depravity and their life-long desire to remain in power at any cost. Did Serzh Sargsyan do the right thing, in my view, not from a human perspective—no, from a presidential perspective—yes.

Apologies are owed by the people of Artsakh, who went from being a proud nation holding up the country to being mere followers with slave-like smiles, welcoming Nikol with flowers and applauding every absurdity, and now look around like a beaten child, wondering how to live in this wreckage.

Artists and stars from the show business owe Serzh Sargsyan an apology, who promoted 'love and revolution' on their Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook accounts. Today, the preachers of the new Armenia are desperately trying to wipe the blood of Artsakh and the boys off themselves, stating at best that they are disappointed and no longer involved in politics.

The IT sector guys and girls owe an apology, who wrote programs to add fake likes to Nikol’s page, the street toughs who blocked roads, and history teachers who took children to rallies, and now edit history with tearful eyes. Apologies should come from the clergymen who turned the church into a meeting place, from economists who passionately preached about exponential economic growth and now look in fear at the growth of national debt.

Apologies should come from those Armenians abroad who raise glasses in feasts, where the main subject has now become that Artsakh no longer exists. Apologies should come from past and present oligarchs. All these people share the experience of living much better under Serzh Sargsyan’s governance, only to reject their own lives and pave the way for their own hell. And that hell will continue as long as they at least don't ask for forgiveness within themselves.

This list could actually go on. There is no shortage of ungrateful and traitorous figures. Perhaps Serzh Sargsyan did some things that deserved such treatment, I am also sure he made many mistakes, and you might have had reasons to reject him. But what did you change about the way things were?

And the two most important questions remain: what did you achieve and why do you continue to live with your mistake? Moreover, even now—amid sobs of those disappointed after the war, unheard cries from those in politics—no one seems capable or willing to recognize an undeniable truth: Serzh Sargsyan kept Armenia and Artsakh safe, for better or worse, providing security and prosperity to the best of his ability. He respected everyone, tolerated everyone, and at a critical moment, for the first time in Armenia’s history, behaved like a democratic leader when he understood his people desired something different than he did, despite knowing that what the people wanted was wrong; yet he still did not go against the will of the people.

Another question is that the people themselves did not even know what they wanted, and it took three years, 5000 casualties, the fall of Artsakh, and the loss of sovereignty to see the difference between a human and a beast, between a statesman and a traitor, between a man and a scoundrel, between a president and an abomination.