Pashinyan Calls Loss of Artsakh a “Success,” Outraging Armenians Worldwide

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has once again sparked shock and anger across Armenia and the global Armenian diaspora—this time by declaring that the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh was not a defeat, but a turning point of “success” for Armenia.

Speaking during his final remarks at the National Assembly’s debate on the 2024 state budget implementation, Pashinyan stated plainly: “There is a lot of talk that we have lost Nagorno-Karabakh. I have thought a lot about this issue, and here my conclusion is as follows: we have not lost Nagorno-Karabakh, but have found the Republic of Armenia. This is the truth.”

This statement—delivered just months after over 120,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homes in Artsakh following Azerbaijan’s brutal military offensive—has drawn widespread criticism from Armenians who accuse Pashinyan of abandoning not only a region but also a people.

Rather than taking responsibility for what many view as the greatest national loss in modern Armenian history, Pashinyan framed the outcome as a positive development for Armenia's sovereignty. “The ‘Nagorno-Karabakh issue,’ as the [Armenian] opposition colleagues were wording [it], was used as a rope so that the Republic of Armenia, as an independent and sovereign state, would not exist, and the Republic of Armenia is existing,” Pashinyan said. “I, all of us, at least I, because I have not spoken to everyone in detail, am more optimistic than ever about the future of the Republic of Armenia.”

He doubled down on his controversial view, again repeating: “We have not lost Nagorno-Karabakh; we have found the Republic of Armenia.”

These statements have left a bitter taste for thousands of families who lost everything when Azerbaijan attacked and took control of the entire territory of Artsakh in September 2023, forcing the complete depopulation of Armenians from the region. Human rights violations, war crimes, and forced displacement followed. Yet none of these tragedies were acknowledged in Pashinyan’s speech.

Instead, the Prime Minister attempted to recast the national trauma as a triumph: “This is not a story of failure, but a story of success. And this is one of the most important acknowledgments I make at this moment,” he said.

Pashinyan also described his years in office as a transformation—from what he called a “frontier post” mindset to now viewing himself as the legitimate leader of a sovereign Armenian state.

“When I think back to myself in June 2018, when I had just become the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, I very quickly noted to myself that I was conditionally the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and more so the Prime Minister of a frontier post,” he said.

He went on to argue that Armenia’s past leadership and society had been trapped in a mentality of serving foreign interests and larger national goals that compromised Armenia’s sovereignty. But critics say this is just another attempt to deflect blame and rewrite history.

According to Pashinyan, his full transformation into a “real” Prime Minister happened only on October 6, 2022—when he officially recognized Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, effectively relinquishing any claim to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“After November 2020, I was perhaps in the most ‘frontier post’ Prime Ministerial position. We were on the edge of a complete frontier post trajectory. And we asked ourselves: do we want to cross that line or not? And we decided that we do not want to,” he said. “From that moment onward, [October 6, 2022] I no longer operate under the logic of a frontier post, but rather as the leader of Armenia’s sovereign statehood—with all that entails.”

What Pashinyan never mentioned in his long philosophical reflection is the fate of the people of Artsakh. Over 120,000 ethnic Armenians were forced to flee to Armenia with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Dozens remain imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Homes, churches, and centuries-old heritage sites have been desecrated or erased.

By framing this catastrophe as a “success,” Pashinyan has alienated thousands of displaced Armenians and insulted the memory of those who died defending their homeland. His words have also enraged citizens who believe that their government has not only failed to protect Artsakh—but is now celebrating that failure.

The Prime Minister’s tone-deaf remarks come at a time when public trust in his leadership is at an all-time low. More Armenians, both in Armenia and the diaspora, are beginning to ask whether Pashinyan’s vision of “sovereignty” is simply code for surrender.

While he claims to have “found the Republic of Armenia,” many believe that under his leadership, the nation has lost much more than it has gained.

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