If Armenia Had Demonstrated Diplomatic Flexibility, the 2016 War Would Not Have Happened: Pashinyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that the April 2016 war could have been prevented. “If Armenia had demonstrated diplomatic flexibility, the 2016 war would not have happened,” he stated during an online press conference, recounting a conversation about the April war with Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan, a hero of Artsakh known as Commander.

“There was an event in the village of Sayat Nova in the Ararat Province, and Commander was also there. As we were leaving, I suggested that we go to Yerevan together, and throughout the journey, I was asking him about the April war. What was it about? Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan said, ‘it was reconnaissance by combat,’ indicating his belief that it was an intelligence operation. The reconnaissance operation precedes the application of a specific war plan, is tested, and certain adjustments are made.”

Pashinyan continued, “The April 2016 war could have been prevented under the conditions in which I could have prevented the September 2020 war.”

“Could I have prevented the war? Of course, I could have accepted the unrealistic and unacceptable demands recorded by Serzh Sargsyan to prevent the war. But now I say that rejecting all this may be a legitimate accusation against me, that I should have assessed the situation, gone, and told the people, ‘You know what, this is the situation; we must make concessions to avoid war.’ Now I think about that a lot, but there’s also another thing—I had to convince myself that this was right. I don’t want to say things that would make it seem like I want to justify myself; I don’t want to justify myself at all; there is no justification for me,” Pashinyan candidly admitted.