If you can’t beat the Turkish collaborationists, join them

The face of the Our Way movement, Narek Karapetyan, could not think of a better way to spend his Friday evening than engaging in a cordial conversation with the Turkish satrap’s chief attack dog, Petros Ghazaryan.

So what did Karapetyan (not) do and (not) say to confirm our earlier theses and suspicions that his movement has not been interested in restoring the Armenian statehood or even in winning in ‘elections’, and merely serves to legitimise the rule of Turkish collaborationists and their forthcoming actions?

First, he showed up at the main stump of the ruling regime (The First Public Channel) – a platform not shunned by the current parliamentary ‘opposition’ either. When addressing a creature who, without any embarrassment, defames Armenian history and Armenian values in the name of his present master’s rule, Karapetyan generously used the title ‘my Lord’. Clearly, this is a bid for an honourable second place in parliament, yet another podium owned and controlled by the Turkish satrap.

Just this first point would suffice to ascertain that his party ‘Strong Armenia our way’ intends to seamlessly integrate into the rotten system of the Third Republic rather than seeking to overhaul it. However, Narek Karapetyan chose not to waste time on trifles and presented us with the full set of evidence at once.

So, secondly, he is not troubled in the slightest by the foreign and domestic policy status quo. His only proposed ‘improvement’ to the ‘Trump Route’ is to attract as many ‘stakeholders’ as possible. And this while the Azerbaijani mini-sultan is already talking to future American co-owners in Davos. Naturally, the main guarantor of everything and anything in the Karapetyans’ ‘Strong Armenia’ is the ‘strong CSTO’ (Collective Security Treaty Organisation, read: Russia). The ‘strong leader’ they promise – and have yet to show – is needed by Armenia solely to ‘convince the CSTO to put pressure on Azerbaijan’. Apparently, all the previous instances in which we lost territories and human lives under foreign guarantees were not due to reliance on external patronage, but rather to insufficient firmness when pressing the buttons to call Moscow. ‘Our Way’ has no interest in building Armenia’s own system of defence; what matters to them is that unanswered calls continue to be directed to Moscow rather than to other capitals.

That said, it turned out that ‘Strong Armenia’ is not opposed to other capitals either. Karapetyan promised to build ‘positive’ relations with all countries in the region, construct oil refineries, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. With such rhetoric, Karapetyan and his movement not only legitimise the results and the governing approach of the Turkish satrap, but also instil a sense of normality in the Armenian world. The conversation is conducted exclusively in the categories and terminology of ‘Real Armenia’. Other imitators of political struggle, such as Arman Tatoyan, adhere to a similar tactic. As if we had not lost part of our historical homeland just a couple of years ago; as if Armenians (including Karapetyan’s uncle!) were not continuing to face unlawful persecution in Baku and Yerevan; as if Armenia’s future depended not on preserving its political subjecthood, but on producing petrol from Azerbaijani oil closer to the consumer and with a smaller markup.

The only more or less lively debate between the two interlocutors concerned investments and taxation. Both agreed that Armenia’s main problem is the economy. Karapetyan even praised the efficiency of the tax service of the Turkish-colonial government.

Evidently, socio-economic populism is more popular than the struggle to preserve identity and statehood, but one question remains: whom should supporters of Pashinyan and his ‘Real Armenia’ vote for now? Here Karapetyan answers confidently: for ‘Strong Armenia’, since (a) they will have a ‘new surname and a new handwriting’, (b) their unknown candidate will be stronger, (c) the era of journalists is over – it is time to elect an economist, and (d) his uncle Samvel Karapetyan served in the Soviet army, while Pashinyan and many of his ministers did not. Even though, by age, the latter – just like Samvel Karapetyan’s children and nephews – should have served in the Armenian army.

In other words, the main grievance against the Turkish satrap boils down to the fact that he is not ‘strong’ enough – instead of thanking fate for that. What exactly needs to be done more ‘strongly’ than Pashinyan’s deeds? Trade with Azerbaijan? Attraction of Turkish investments (after all, investments have been promised – they must be delivered)? Squandering of Armenian sovereignty with greater determination? Is this really a race worth entering? Once again, we are being offered a ‘new’ force so that a new signature, in a new handwriting, can appear under the decree on Armenia’s self-dissolution.

To be fair, Karapetyan did recall that part of Armenia’s territory is occupied by enemy forces. True, he referred to the temporary occupation as annexation – effectively condoning it. But what can one do, if he believes such matters no longer require careful distinction: let us defeat poverty, and then we shall live well! Apparently, we are electing a Minister of Economic Development in 2026, not a Commander-in-Chief. As for security, Russia will deal with it – one merely needs to convince (!) it that ‘annexation is unacceptable’. One might as well, like Pashinyan, brandish the infamous Almaty Declaration on the inviolability of Soviet borders, now revered by Russia with the same sanctity as anyone’s territorial integrity.

It is symbolic that a day later, the Russian party ‘New People’, which played the role of systemic opposition in the 2021 parliamentary elections, stood up for Samvel Karapetyan – something that his nephew failed to do during the entire interview. Presumably, they will become sister parties after ‘Strong Armenia’, with its ‘new’ leader’s ‘new’ surname, repeats their staggering success and crawls into parliament.

One thing is clear: if the system so ardently supported by the Karapetyans continues to be reproduced in Armenia, the jobs they promise will certainly not be needed by Armenians. Let us thank the ‘Our Way’ movement, successfully registered as the ‘Strong Armenia’ party, for not even attempting to mislead us or offer false hope of imminent salvation.

A boycott of the Turkish-scripted farce called ‘2026 Elections’ is imperative. The only thing that may change there is the balance within the tame and lame ‘opposition’, not the ruling power. Let us leave the circus performers without an audience, so that they cannot use us as a cover for the annihilation of Armenian statehood.