VIDEO. My image frightened part of the public, Kocharyan

“Armenia” alliance has released a video from a closed meeting between the second president of Armenia and citizens. In the published video, Robert Kocharyan explains why he is passive, why he is not in a leadership role, and why he does not give interviews, while also stating that he is in the struggle.

Referring to the election results, Robert Kocharyan said: “My image, my Nagorno-Karabakh past, the image of a leader who has won in war frightened a large part of our people, fearing that someone with dignity will come, will try to fight for national values, and may bring another war upon us. This was the main factor that mixed up all that sociology.”

“You know, in the case of aggression or attack, fear is the strongest instinct, and there are three options to respond to an attack: the first is to fight for your life, the second is to flee, and the third is to submit, or pretend to be dead. Now this is, so-called, biological, not psychological. And this worked on our people's collective behavior. The second circumstance was the ‘revenge seekers,’ local vs diaspora, old vs new. These were the two factors.”

“Now look, we were starting the ‘Resistance’ movement and having this analysis, the decision was to try to neutralize that fear, for example, by not having my image at the forefront and not provoking an artificial resurrection of the old vs new thesis. To neutralize those two factors, I participated in rallies as a citizen of Armenia, but I did not take on the role of a leader.”

Kocharyan stated that they will attempt to assess the situation in the near future, that he does not want to disappoint citizens, and that there is still a struggle ahead: “We will be guided,” he said. Further details can be seen in the video.