Karpis Pashoyan: Nikol Pashinyan Is an Experienced Manipulator and Liar
Karpis Pashoyan posted on his Facebook page:
Even an AK-74 rifle, if neglected and left to rust in the dirt, will eventually turn into scrap metal and fail to fire at the most critical moment. The southernmost battalions of Jabrail sent thousands of Azerbaijanis to eternity using AKMs that had been repaired and polished in Armenia. Perhaps to Nikol Pashinyan they look like scrap metal, probably because he himself lacks the knowledge or skill to use them.
Over the years, under the influence of persistent propaganda, certain myths have taken root among us, and people now accept them blindly. These myths have reached a point where they are treated as self-evident truths, no longer needing proof. For example, everyone I talk to seems convinced that the army was in disastrous condition, that we had no army at all, that everything had been looted or embezzled.
I am not a military expert, of course. I was just an ordinary soldier who was sent to the trenches - and I went there dutifully. Yet even as an ordinary soldier, I observed, I read, I learned. And based on that experience, I insist: the judgments about the army and armaments that so many consider reasonable and legitimate are, at best, naïve and empty rhetoric, and at worst, outright lies.
Given the current political climate and prevailing narratives, any criticism of Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan is automatically considered acceptable, even when it is based on falsehoods. Conversely, many people unconsciously repeat the myths about the army in order to justify their hidden sympathy for Nikol Pashinyan, or to rationalize their own desertion, cowardice, abandonment of combat positions, resignation from the army for money, or political conformism. For others, these myths serve as a convenient tool - a way to pose as prudent, informed experts. They are like ticks comfortably attached to the body of society, endlessly repeating officially sanctioned narratives depending on the political moment.
In reality, we had a rather well-trained army, particularly the Defense Army, and above all, the 3rd and 2nd Army Corps. Were there defects or shortcomings? Of course, there were. Every army in the world has flaws and serious problems. But are those flaws or instances of corruption enough to claim that we had no army at all? That is, in itself, a rhetorical question.
Quite simply, Nikol Pashinyan is a professional manipulator and liar. His claims that the air defense system was “scrap metal” are the best proof of that. I have said repeatedly that our public understanding of the air defense system is overly simplistic and naïve. Many people imagine that someone in Yerevan just needs to press a red button, and invisible air defense systems will instantly shield the sky and neutralize enemy drones and fighter jets. This is absurd. It’s impossible. No air defense system in the world is 100% effective. We have seen this clearly in the Russian-Ukrainian and Iranian-Israeli conflicts. Air defense is a supporting system. It can function effectively only when it operates in coordination and harmony with other types of weaponry. .
Any weapon can be reduced to scrap in minutes - or conversely, a heap of poor-quality iron can be turned into effective weapons. It all depends on the people involved: in this case, on the war-management skills of political and military leadership. If, at the outset of a war, air-defense systems are not redeployed and placed on combat alert, it is only natural that they will be rendered useless in seconds. And then, of course, it’s always convenient to put the blame on others.
To me it is an absolute fact that Armenia and Artsakh could have fought far more effectively, and that the war could have had a different outcome, if Nikol Pashinyan had not been prime minister, if Arayik Harutyunyan had not been president, if Jalal Harutyunyan had not been commander of the Defense Army, and if Onik Gasparyan had possessed the will and decisiveness among other qualities required of a commander. War is, above all, an art of management.
