local_media8881257841452930564-43-64 | Page 12

Being an opposition leader , Nikol Pashiniyan has stated that “ We need to prevent Armenia ’ s Azerbaijanisation ” and in his victory speech in 2018 Pashinian also promised to finally make “ the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic an inseparable part of the Republic of Armenia ” ( Open Democracy 2018 ). This statements show that in the pre-war period , Pashinian trying to gain public support was trying to utilize the nationalistic sentiments of the people and build the victorious rhetoric stating that the Karabkh issue would be resolved in favor of Armenians . This kind of nationalistic rhetoric and ready-made formulas utilized by Pashinain in his messages to the public could not avoid but being tracked by the Azerbaijani side that perceived Pashinain ’ s position as an uncompromising one and did not really demonstrate his willingness to negotiate on the issues that were still perceived as being unresolved . Undoubtedly , this position clearly conveyed by Pashinain had no chance to add to Azerbaijan ' s willingness to negotiate and to resolve the conflict in a peaceful way . It is interesting to note that after the 44-Day War , Pashinian has numerously stated the territorial concessions were the only existing alternative for Armenia , a “ painful decision , but a necessary and inevitable one ” ( Hetq 2020 ). Speaking about the territorial concessions which he agreed on signing the 2020 Joint Statement , Pashinian stated : “ There was no option . There was a thesis that existed throughout the entire history of the negotiations , and it was a hardened reality ”. In the course of the analysis it becomes evident that Nikol Pashinian ’ s publicly declared positions have dramatically changed from the times of him being an opposition leader to the after-war period when he as a Prime Minister of the country signed the 2020 Joint Statement . Coming to power on the wave of the nationalistic and victorious sentiments , representing himself as a savior who was going to resolve the Karabakh issue in favor of Armenia , after the 44 Day War Pashinain has dramatically changed his rhetoric to justify the decisions made . The change of his rhetoric declaring that territorial concessions were the only option had a potential to help the Prime Minister keep the power and not to be perceived as a traitor preserving the public support .
However , Nikol Pashinyan ’ s positions on territorial concessions differed not only in the pre-war and post-war periods . In the times of Nikol Pashinian being an opposition leader , his position on the Karabakh issue can also hardly be characterized as a consistent one . In his book “ The other side of the Earth '' Nikol Pashinian concerning the Karabakh issue has written that :
“ The rationality says : because of the part , the whole cannot be endangered , and at least , it is necessary to declare , loudly declare , that we do not need these
54