Pashinyan Avoids Naming Turkey as Genocide Perpetrator on 110th Anniversary

On April 24, 2025, as Armenians around the world solemnly marked the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once again chose silence over truth. Instead of naming the Turkish regime responsible for the 1915 massacre of 1.5 million Armenians, Pashinyan issued a vague and carefully worded statement—avoiding the word “genocide” and ignoring the role of the Ottoman Empire’s ruling Young Turks. His choice of words was not only tone-deaf, but also deeply offensive to Armenians who have spent generations fighting for international recognition of the truth.

As tens of thousands marched to the Tsitsernakabert memorial in Yerevan to pay their respects to the victims, Pashinyan stood at the same site but with a different agenda. While others remembered the horror and called for justice, he spoke of “tragedy,” “survival,” and “normalized relations with neighbors,” referring to Turkey and Azerbaijan—two nations that continue to deny the genocide and pose ongoing threats to Armenia’s security.

Pashinyan’s statement avoided direct condemnation of the 1915 genocide’s perpetrators. Instead, he focused on “massacres and deportations” and the phrase “Meds Yeghern” (Great Crime), bypassing the legal and internationally accepted term “genocide.” This is not a one-time oversight—it is part of a disturbing pattern.

In January, Pashinyan publicly questioned the very campaign for genocide recognition. He suggested Armenians should “understand what happened” in 1915, leaving many historians and members of the diaspora stunned and outraged. Armenian scholars and opposition leaders saw this as a dangerous flirtation with genocide denial.

This month, Pashinyan doubled down. In an interview with Turkish journalists, he admitted that his government would no longer push for further international recognition of the genocide. He even went so far as to say that past resolutions passed by foreign governments recognizing the genocide might “undermine regional stability.”

Pashinyan’s message did not end there. On the eve of the genocide anniversary, during a traditional youth-led torchlight procession to Tsitsernakabert, Turkish and Azerbaijani flags were burned—acts many viewed as symbolic resistance to two regimes long hostile to Armenia and the Armenian people.

But Pashinyan’s administration chose to condemn the protesters, not the enemies. His press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, called the flag burning “provocative and inflammatory.” Meanwhile, voices within Armenia pushed back hard. Kristine Vartanyan, a lawmaker from the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, responded: “Pashinyan sees a danger not from Azerbaijan or Turkey but from his own people.”

For many, this anniversary laid bare the deep and growing divide between the Armenian government and its people. The Catholicos of All Armenians, Karegin II, was once again excluded from the official wreath-laying ceremony at Tsitsernakabert, highlighting the ongoing rift between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the government. Yet, the Church held its own prayer service—separate, but powerful.

Even as thousands of citizens marched silently with flowers, honoring the memory of genocide victims, Pashinyan’s tone-deaf diplomacy sparked anger and confusion. To many, it felt like betrayal.

Armenians in the diaspora, particularly in countries that have long supported genocide recognition, voiced deep concern. Advocacy organizations in the United States, France, and elsewhere released statements condemning Pashinyan’s rhetoric and his apparent retreat from a century-long struggle for justice.

“To erase or cast doubt on our own history is tantamount to the betrayal of our ancestors as well as our present day rights,” said one Armenian-American activist. “If we don't stand up for truth, and now, we cannot expect anyone else to do so either.”

Pashinyan’s latest actions are not happening in a vacuum. Over the past year, his government has been pushing for normalization talks with Turkey and peace agreements with Azerbaijan, even after the devastating 2023 Azerbaijani military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh that forced more than 120,000 ethnic Armenians to flee their indigenous homeland.

Many Armenians now see a pattern: silence on genocide, concessions in negotiations, and alienation of national institutions like the Church and diaspora groups. Critics believe that Pashinyan is reshaping Armenia’s identity—not through unity, but through surrender.

April 24 should be a time for bold truth-telling, a moment when Armenia’s leaders stand tall for justice, history, and the dignity of a people who survived one of the worst crimes of the 20th century. Instead, Armenia’s prime minister chose political caution over moral clarity.

While the world marched in remembrance, Pashinyan took a different path—one that many Armenians believe leads away from truth, justice, and national unity.

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