Nikol Pashinyan on the CSTO

The next attempt to nullify the statehood of Armenia occurred on May 12, 2021. This was stated by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the report on the progress and results of the government's program for 2023 at the National Assembly.

“Just two days after the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia was dissolved, and the government had resigned to conduct snap elections, the armed forces of Azerbaijan invaded the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia in the Sotk-Khoznavar section,” he said.

The Prime Minister noted that at that time, certain forces were demanding that Armenia initiate military actions in order for the CSTO to come to its aid. However, according to Pashinyan, the CSTO’s de jure obligations indicated something entirely different.

“Later, it became clear that the CSTO wanted to come to Armenia not as an ally, but as a peacekeeper, which actually excluded Armenia from its security guarantees system. If the government at that time had given in to emotions and such pressures, events could have unfolded in the following scenario: the intensification of military actions deep within Armenia's sovereign territories, a failure of the parliamentary elections due to this, the absence of an elected authority, and the CSTO deploying not as allies but as peacekeepers, leading to the establishment of a puppet regime and the actual dissolution of Armenia’s statehood,” he said.

According to Pashinyan, the people of Armenia demonstrated a state-centered approach and responded to the government’s calls in that difficult situation. The Prime Minister added, “In those difficult circumstances, we managed to hold elections that were internationally recognized as free and democratic. Contrary to all predictions, the people gave their vote of confidence to the political force that led the democratic, non-violent Velvet Revolution in 2018. This provided a mandate of trust to real Armenia, which, perhaps intuitively or perhaps consciously, the people of Armenia adopted as this strategy.”

The de jure reaffirmation of real Armenia took place due to the September war of 2022 when it became clear that we were being dragged towards the guillotine with the noose that was put around our necks in 1996-98, threatening our statehood and independence.