Maxime Gauin: In trying to reach peace, Pashinyan faces absence of state tradition in Armenia

In trying to reach peace, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan faces not only the legacy of three decades of terrible errors (including his own in 2019-2020) but also the absence of state tradition in Armenia, ADA University teacher, French historian, political scientist Maxime Gauin told Report.

Speaking about the reasons for the provocation committed by the Armenian army on the Azerbaijan-Armenia conditional state border on February 12, the expert said that it does not make sense for Mr. Pashinyan to order such a provocation:

"First, it is necessary to consider the context. At Grenada, in October of last year, Nikol Pashinyan not only confirmed the Prague declaration of October 2022 on the mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Armenia but included (for the first time in a written form) the number of square kilometers of the Azerbaijani territory, a number which proves that he recognizes both Karabakh and the enclaves as yours. As a result, it does not make sense for Mr. Pashinyan to order such a provocation. Who ordered it? It is too soon to affirm with certitude."

He added that the Pashinyan cabinet wanted to get rid of the ambassador in Paris Hasmik Tolmajian since 2021 but always failed to find anybody who had both competence and loyalty: "The Azerbaijanis can logically wonder why the Armenian army is not purged from undesirable and provocative elements. I can give you one element of appreciation in this regard. In 2022, Mr. Pashinyan went to Paris. Members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, junior partner of the Kocharyan and Sarkisyan cabinets) pelted his car with eggs; they also insulted him using a vocabulary I do not dare to translate. Yet, on the same day, a part of them were welcomed at the Armenian embassy of Paris. The Pashinyan cabinet wanted to get rid of this person since 2021 but always failed to find anybody who had both competence and loyalty. It is reasonable to think that he is facing similar problems with the army."