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Armenia redefines peace as within

A draft peace agreement with longtime foe Azerbaijan comes alongside a campaign for Armenians to reflect on an identity higher than ethnicity.

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A woman votes in Yerevan, Armenia, during a 2021 parliamentary election.
  • By the Monitor's Editorial Board

After multiple territorial wars over more than 35 years, Armenia and Azerbaijan, two small countries ringed by big powers, announced March 13 that they had agreed on a draft peace agreement. That alone prompted praise across a conflict-riddled Eurasian continent. Yet a portion of praise went to only Armenia, population 3 million, for something else.

Following the country’s latest military defeat in 2023, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan not only offered concessions to Azerbaijan but also launched a campaign at home to lift the national identity beyond ethnicity, a trait that exudes exclusivity and lies at the heart of many wars.

The “Real Armenia,” he said in a February speech, resides in all citizens living within the country’s recognized borders – ethnic minorities included – as “the source of the legal order,” along with spiritual values that bring harmony and happiness.

The “supreme bearer of power,” he said, lies in each individual’s desire for prosperity, freedom, creativity, justice, and a caring society.

Mr. Pashinyan’s call for a transformed identity is part of his long hope to change the constitution and improve on what he describes as the country’s “striving democracy.” Since independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia has held three constitutional referendums before finally reaching a popular democratic revolution in 2018.

With the agreement on peace, the prime minister plans a referendum next year on a new charter, one that would include dropping an indirect reference in the current constitution about Armenian claims to an enclave now controlled by Azerbaijan.

Peace with Armenia’s nearby nations – especially Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan – rests on individuals building up their democracy to end an outsize dependency on other countries. The current Armenian consciousness, Mr. Pashinyan implied, often does not rely on rights and duties.

“The future of Armenia depends on one person and that person is you!” he said in the televised speech, asking citizens to “deepen the skill of reflection.”

A secure Armenia, in other words, lies in a redefined national identity above ethnic bloodlines.

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