I Think Everything Reached a Point Where War Was Inevitable: Ashot Pashinyan

I think everything reached a point where war was inevitable. This was stated by Ashot Pashinyan, the son of Nikol Pashinyan, in an interview with Freenews.am, in response to a question about whether he believes war was unavoidable at this stage.

When asked if he is concerned that it might happen again, Ashot Pashinyan responded that he does not have any such fears, but has always considered, and continues to consider, it a possibility.

In response to a question about whether he blames those who fled military service during the war for various reasons or understands human fears, the son of the Prime Minister said: “It is difficult to accuse them, but in fact, I will accuse them. The state has obligations to the citizen, but at the same time, the citizen has obligations to the state. There is a lot to blame in idealistic, state-minded thinking, but from a human perspective, I don’t know.”

Regarding what potential he believes Armenia has, Ashot Pashinyan stated: “I think Armenia can become a global center of culture and art; Armenia can export aesthetic thinking, beautiful visions for the future, concrete and constructive outlooks. We could guide the world, why not, if we reach that point. We must try to do so because today, it’s hard to be guided by someone. It’s difficult because someone is not truthful enough to be guided by them. We need to set a goal for where we are taking Armenia, perhaps we will be that truthful.”

When asked when and how life will start anew, how to smile again, Pashinyan replied: “With our smile comes so much pain that contradictions arise between our vision of happiness and everything else; at certain points, thinking about happiness doesn’t seem justified. I found the answers to that question in the future, because I have thought long and later understood that at any point in our lives, we have not been satisfied with the present, and there is no point where we can say that everything is so good that it’s good; it has always been bad. It was good when we had a good vision for the future; the present has never been good. I decided that I should maintain the same approach after all this because our struggle has always been for the future, not the present. I think the present should not play a role in our work processes; we should be strong and confidently move toward the future, regardless of how much the present hinders or strikes us.”

Addressing criticism regarding his clothing choices, Ashot Pashinyan said: “There have been many discussions about my clothing, but I like this conversation to the extent that different-minded people are discussing something and reaching some point. The mentality in Armenia that clothing should conform to certain standards is puzzling. For example, I don’t think I dress differently than others, and when such discussions arise, I am surprised and wonder if I have done something differently.”