A sensational event took place recently in Yerevan, where a local resident, Karen Hachatryan (pictured), destroyed the statue of «Artsakh liberation hero» Leonid Azgaldyan. The man justified his actions by saying that it is because of people like Azgaldyan, who 30 years ago called for the annexation of Karabakh to Armenia (known as «Miatsuma»), that the country has fallen into the current state from which it cannot escape.
«I repeat, I destroyed the statue of Leonid Azgaldyan because it is because of him and people like him that our nation is in its current state. It is because of him that we have had so many victims, both in 2020 and in the last 30 years. In the 90s, there was a senseless bandit attack on a neighboring country. We occupied their land for 30 years and now we are responsible for it. I stand for justice; I defend those who are just. Moreover, I would like to say that our Armenian nation continues to suffer because of the traitor of our homeland, Azerbaijan. What did Azerbaijan do to us? Have they occupied our lands? Did they commit murders against us? Azerbaijanis have finally regained their lands, but have they occupied ours? The Armenian people are betraying their own lands and occupying Azerbaijani lands, and they have betrayed us to the fire,» Hachatryan said.
He reportedly voiced his support for Nikol Pashinyan, whom the revanchist Armenian opposition is currently trying to remove from power, and called for him to be dealt with… by Azerbaijani law enforcement. «It would not be a bad idea to invite Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies to Armenia. Only Azerbaijani law enforcement agencies can restore order in Armenia and cleanse France Square of this opposition,» Hachatryan said.
Of course, it cannot be excluded that all these actions are provocations of the opposition against Pashinyan, aimed at portraying his supporters as «enemies of the nation». Otherwise, it indicates a very radical shift in public opinion in Armenian society, even if it is only at the level of individual heroes like this.
In the end, he is absolutely right. Sooner or later, if reasonable Armenians who are focused on reconciliation with Azerbaijan and Turkey cannot deal with Armenian revanchists themselves, it will have to be done by the two aforementioned countries.