The population of the country, exercising public authority, is subject to it. In other words, the state is the house of the people, within which citizens, by exercising their rights and responsibilities, delegate powers to the best representatives to implement internal and external policies.
Nations that exercise sovereign rights are known as political nations. There are far fewer such nations in the modern world than the total number of peoples and ethnic groups. There are up to five thousand non-political nations.
History knows many examples of the collapse of states, resulting in the assimilation and even disappearance of ethnic groups. In recent history, there are examples of countries being destroyed, fragmented, or split—like Sudan, Somalia, and other underdeveloped entities. They failed to cope with the challenges of the time, and parts of these failed states became mere cartographic designations.
Armenia, as a state entity, has reached an impasse in its current phase of existence and is inevitably moving toward catastrophe. Essentially, it represents a counter-historical phenomenon. Nevertheless, it continues to generate risks by making territorial claims against its neighbors. Armenians themselves call their country the “Third Republic,” which is now under real threat of collapse due to the disastrous policies it has pursued since 1991. The primary responsibility for this bitter fate lies with the first three presidents of the republic, for whom the pursuit of Lebensraum (living space) turned into an endless nightmare.
Over the past 115 years, Armenians—having arrived in the Caucasus region due to mass migration from Persia and the Ottoman Empire—have initiated four large-scale military campaigns against their neighbors. The most recent, known as the Second Karabakh War, ended in Armenia’s crushing defeat. A nearly two-century-long struggle to annex foreign lands ultimately backfired.
After this loud defeat, Yerevan, under the influence of its political elite, refuses to make peace with the victor, declaring that “achieving consensus at any cost is unacceptable.” The reason for this refusal is monstrous in its essence. In the minds of not only the political elite but also many social groups, the struggle for Azerbaijani territories is equated with the fight for independence.
Armenians today are the only ethnic group in the world that, in their Declaration of Independence, officially laid claim to the territories of their neighbors—and see nothing wrong with this. To keep the flame of hatred alive in the hearts of their citizens, they propagate the false narrative that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government is weak in the face of Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s legitimate demands. Yet Baku and Ankara demand only respect for international law from Yerevan.
Official Baku is waiting for Yerevan to amend its constitution, in which Karabakh is referred to as an “inseparable part of Armenian territory.” This provision was carried over from the Declaration of Independence, adopted in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR.
Legal-minded, sober forces in Armenia argue that the new constitution should contain no references to the Declaration of Independence. Pragmatists understand that fundamental state documents cannot include provisions that pose external threats. However, radicals from nationalist and fundamentalist parties insist that territorial claims must be included in the constitution to avoid denial of statehood itself—a completely illogical argument.
The situation now is that for 30 years, the Third Republic, having been an aggressor and occupying 20% of Azerbaijani land, had a national identity. But as soon as Baku expelled the occupier, Armenia lost its national essence, becoming a marginal entity in global processes. And this is still not the full arsenal of Armenian absurdities.
The cherry on top of the political madness is the so-called “heroic struggle for Karabakh.” Uncompromising nationalists and xenophobes demand that Nikol Pashinyan comply with their demands. Otherwise, they claim, the Prime Minister will become the gravedigger of Armenian statehood.
The logic of these semi-literate obscurantists is truly fascinating. All together, they protest against the authorities, convinced that the struggle for sovereignty must necessarily take the form of aggressive predation.
Corrupt and disgraced politicians from the past, laying the foundation of their ideological nonsense, openly claim that “Armenia’s independence was declared for the sake of resolving the Karabakh issue, not for a better life.” Therefore, the Karabakh movement must remain an instrument for realizing the ideals of independence and sovereignty in the future.
The burden of fundamental cognitive defects prevents these “patriots” from rethinking their monstrous goals and views in the mirror of history and collective experience. The flawed conclusions and false generalizations of losers who thought themselves victors are dizzying. If they conclude that one must sacrifice a normal life for the conquest of Azerbaijani Karabakh, then their minds are indeed shrouded in darkness.
Karabakh returned to its rightful home through the valor of Azerbaijan’s national army, while the ordinary lives of Armenian citizens were wiped out. All those who orchestrated the bloody bacchanalia have no regrets, for they robbed their people blind. Enormous funds that flowed into the state budget and the so-called Karabakh Defense Fund were spent recklessly at their discretion, without forgetting to enrich themselves. And the people were left with graves in Yerablur and other cemeteries. Now there is neither Karabakh nor a self-sufficient life, and deceived citizens dream of emigration.
A state destined to be born from the Karabakh movement was doomed from the start. If a “passport” for the Armenian state is drawn up in a similar editorial spirit—referring back to the Declaration of Independence—then such a document must be recognized as invalid. It has been annulled once and for all by the final verdict of Baku.
The defeated pseudo-heroes now hurl all their blame at Nikol Pashinyan and his supporters, who understand that Armenia has suffered a strategic defeat due to a pack of adventurers and opportunists. Official Yerevan now rejects the Karabakh movement, recognizing it as a hollow structure built on shaky sand.
It was this movement that set Armenians back decades, plunging them into historical failure. A false movement that led people not forward, but backward, culminating in a century-long deception by the Ter-Petrosyans, Kocharyans, Sargsyans, and other schemers. They may still be living comfortably, but they are political corpses nonetheless.
Whether life will improve in this troubled country depends on its voters, who have been deceived for decades. Those who still equate “Karabakh” with “Armenia” are wishing for a repeat of the nightmare.
Mental darkness—that is their diagnosis. If they had even a shred of conscience, they would repent. But no—they want to drink the bitter cup of adventure to the very bottom. So be it. But now, total darkness awaits them. And perhaps, that is exactly what must happen.
Tofig Abbasov
