An unsettling criticism for a price Armenia can bear

 Vaհe H Apelian

Robert O. Krikorian PhD has recently posted an article in the online journal Keghar.com, titling it “Armenia needs to Challenge its Assumptions”. (June 3, 2026).

 Frankly speaking I was disappointed in the way Dr. Robert O. Krikorian treated in that article,  Armenia’s crossroad for peace existential initiative, especially after reading his academic credentials, academic experiences, and his “career as a diplomatic historian, focusing on the practical and policy-relevant applications of historical knowledge.” Armenia’s strategic initiative is not about what Turkey and Azerbaijan want; it is about what Armenia wants and strategizes to achieve.

Furthermore, considering Armenia’s history with its neighbors and the recent tragic experience losing historic Artsakh, I find Armenia, contrary to Dr. Robert O. Krikorian’s assumption, is is challenging historic assumptions in an unprecedented way. I find the diplomatic headways Armenia has made, in spite that “Armenia has provided no evidence or reasoned analysis that Ankara and Baku want anything other than a weak and compliant Armenia to serve their own strategic interests”, remarkable. For the very first time in recent history, Armenia’s borders including of course along Turkey and Azerbaijan, are now manned by Armenians only. And also “For the First Time Since Independence, Armenia Records 24 Months Without Border Fatalities; Thousands of Homes Being Built in Border Communities” (a Massispost.com quote). 

I invite Dr. Robert O. Krikorian ask and gauge the reactions of parents and relatives of citizens of Armenia who have a son or a daughter, a niece or nephew serving, or will be serving, Armenia’s armed forces and manning Armenia's borders.

I also found offensive that person of his caliper calls the Armenian Government a “regime.” Dr. Robert O. Krikorian knows that the current government came about by the consent of the citizens of Armenia, who elected Nikol Pashinyan led Civil Contract party in an orderly, transparent democratic election to govern Armenia.

There are a number of other issues Dr. Robert O. Krikorian raises, such as the Armenian prisoners in Baku, the destruction of Armenian monuments left behind in historic Artsakh, occupied lands in Armenia, aggressive statements coming from Baku. Yes, there will not come a time when Armenia will not confront serious issues or remain nonchalant in that tinderbox of a region. However, the following is unquestionable. Armenia was 29,743 square kilometers before Nikol Pashinyan came to power. Armenia is 29,743 square kilometers as Nikol Pashinyan strives again to be elected as the PM.

What also was disappointing to me, was his lack of suggestion as to how he proposes Armenia best strategizes its relations with its forever four bordering countries, given his unmistakable criticism of Nikol Pashinyan government. His concluding paragraph is evasive at best. “It is not too late, however, to reverse this troubling trend”, is not a statement that lays down a strategy. Reverse the troubling trade, in favor of what? I invite readers to read it over again and rebut or rebuke me if I err in my assertions. 

Armenia is doing a remarkable job joggling conflicting interests. However, internal matters are exacerbating Armenia’s foreign policy and that is because of the lingering commissar hegemonic mentality and the safeguarding the ill-gotten wealth, and other de-stabilizing legacies of Soviet Socialist Union and its breakup. What exacerbates Armenian policy is the oligarchic remnants from the unprecedented plunder that turned the well-connected members of yesterday’s Soviet nomenklatura, onto fiscal barons be he Robert, Sezh, or Samvel.

Much like any strategy, crossroad for peace initiative exacts its price. But what strategic initiative does not exact a price? All do. But cross road for peace strategic initiative is a price Armenia can bear.