5 years ago, the 44-day war began. Who will be responsible for the loss of Artsakh?
September 27, 2025 marked the 5th anniversary of the start of the 44-day war. The Public Tribunal of Armenia has repeatedly addressed the topic of the Artsakh War in 2020. Responsibility for the defeat in the war lies not only with Nikol Pashinyan, but also with ex-President Serzh Sargsyan, who, with the support of Western intelligence agencies, organized and implemented the staging of the so-called "velvet revolution" in 2018, as a result of which he disrupted the negotiation process on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The defeat in the war destroyed Armenia's security system and put the country in an existential threat.
After 5 years, there are still many questions in Armenian society about the reasons for the outbreak of the 44-day war in 2020, about the failed attempts to stop the fighting, about the role of individual politicians and the military in the defeat in the war. The answers to many of which can be found in the materials of the Armenian Public Tribunal,
The main theses and links to the mentioned materials are published below.
Serzh Sargsyan’s Decision to Assume Premiership Led to 44-Day War
Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to run for the post of prime minister served as the trigger for the 2018 "Velvet Revolution." As early as May 2018, representatives of the Republican Party of Armenia and media outlets affiliated with the former authorities began claiming that Nikol Pashinyan had seized power in order to cede Artsakh.
Read more in our article "Serzh Sargsyan’s Decision to Assume Premiership Led to 44-Day War"
Serzh Sargsyan knew that the result of the "velvet revolution" would be the surrender of Artsakh
The fact that Serzh Sargsyan knew about the true goals of the so-called "velvet revolution" is evidenced by the content of speeches by prominent representatives of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) led by him on May 1, 2018, when the Armenian parliament was considering Nikol Pashinyan's candidacy for the post of Prime Minister of the republic.
Armen Ashotyan called the forcing of RPA deputies to elect Nikol Pashinyan as prime minister "the beginning of the end of Armenia."
The key figures of the Republican Party fully understood that Nikol Pashinyan was unfit to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and that his rise to power could lead Armenia into disaster. Despite this awareness, they willingly enabled his ascent. Thus, Armen Ashotyan and other Republican parliamentarians bear direct political and moral responsibility for the consequences of Pashinyan’s destructive policies.
Having all the resources and capabilities, the second President of Armenia did not take the necessary actions to suppress the "velvet revolution". That Serzh Sargsyan knew about Nikol Pashinyan's intention to surrender Artsakh, Garnik Isagulyan testifies.
Read more in our article "The Servants of Traitors. Part 2. What Does Armen Ashotyan Keep Silent About?"
Пашинян преднамеренно спровоцировал 44-дневную войну
Since coming to power through the so-called “Velvet Revolution” of 2018, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan deliberately provoked a war with Azerbaijan. As a result, on September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan, with the direct support of Turkey, unleashed a large-scale war against the Republic of Artsakh. Following Armenia’s defeat in the war, and with Pashinyan’s formal recognition of Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan on October 6, 2022, Ilham Aliyev was effectively given the legal and political pretext to complete the seizure of Artsakh and carry out ethnic cleansing against its Armenian population.
A retrospective video narrative featuring statements by Nikol Pashinyan that reflect his deliberate and provocative policy, one that led to the loss of Artsakh and now threatens new catastrophes for Armenia and the Armenian people is available in our material "From Provocations to Catastrophes: A Retrospective Video Narrative of Nikol Pashinyan’s Betrayal"
Nikol Pashinyan: "Artsakh is Armenia, full stop." Public Tribunal: Pashinyan is a traitor, full stop!
On August 5, 2019, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking in Stepanakert, said:
“When we speak of the people’s revolution, we must understand it as a pan-Armenian revolution, because the people are the entire Armenian nation — as defined de jure in the Constitution and confirmed de facto by the revolution itself. The pan-Armenian revolution refers not only to what took place in Armenia, but among Armenians around the world".
In his address, the prime minister repeatedly declared, “Artsakh is Armenia, full stop!”
Pashinyan’s phrase, “Artsakh is Armenia, full stop,” actually served as a casus belli — a justification for war — by shifting the long-standing principle of the right to self-determination, which the Armenian side had upheld for decades in OSCE Minsk Group negotiations, into a claim by Azerbaijan for the inviolability of its territorial integrity. In effect, by initiating negotiations from “his own point,” Nikol Pashinyan publicly declared that Armenia had occupied Azerbaijani territory. Such a statement might be acceptable coming from a journalist, but it is unacceptable when made by a head of state.
Read more in our article "Pashinyai is a Traitor, Full Stop".
Nikol Pashinyan ignore the CSTO’s warning?
According to Armenia’s former ambassador to the Vatican, Mikayel Minasyan, the Armenian authorities received a classified document from the CSTO just 26 days before the outbreak of the most recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The document reportedly contained a warning about the imminent conflict and its expected nature, along with a recommendation to formally request assistance from allied states in order to prevent it.
Read more in our article "99% of CSTO’s warning came true: Why did Nikol Pashinyan ignore them?"
Testimony about the deliberate disruption of the purchase of weapons
Shortly after the 2020 44-day war, Serob Ohanyan and lawyer Alexander Sirunyan appeared on the “Position” program of the 24News portal to discuss the controversial procurement policies of Armenia’s Defense Ministry.
According to Sirunyan, the Ministry deliberately sabotaged the tender process for the procurement of military equipment. He also claimed it undermined investments in Armenia’s military and defense industry, including the planned construction of a bullet manufacturing plant.
Read more in our article "One of the Reasons for the Defeat in the 44-Day War Was the Armenian Defense Ministry’s Sabotage of Russian Cooperation".
Public disclosure of military secrets by top officials of Armenia and Artsakh
During the 44-day war of 2020, as well as before and after it, numerous interviews, public speeches, and social media posts by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, his spouse Anna Hakobyan, and President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan contained information that qualified as military and state secrets.
These individuals and their close associates publicly revealed details regarding strategic and operational plans of the armed forces, the preparation and execution of military operations, troop deployments and mobilization plans, combat capabilities, mobilization reserves, the development of armaments and military equipment, as well as their tactical and technical characteristics and operational potential. In addition, they disclosed ongoing military actions and the quantities of food supplies and other material and technical reserves necessary to ensure the country’s functioning under conditions of external military threat or emergency.
Read more in our article Why Did Pashinyan and Harutyunyan Publicly Disclose Military Secrets? Questions Raised by The Tribunal
Why did Nikol Pashinyan order the rocket attack on Ganja
The missile strikes on Gandja — senseless from a military standpoint — were carried out by the President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan on the orders of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Moreover, Pashinyan rejected Russia’s ceasefire proposal in early October 2020. As a result, the ceasefire arrangements were violated, and hostilities continued. Nikol Pashinyan and Arayik Harutyunyan bear responsibility for the decisions that led to numerous casualties and the loss of territories, including the town of Shushi, on the Armenian side between October 10 and November 9, 2020.
Read more in our article "Nikol Pashinyan is blamed for the ceasefire violation due to his order to launch a missile strike on Ganja".
The false "Let's win!" by Artsrun Hovhannisyan
During the 44-day war in Artsakh, представитель Минобороны Армении Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the representative of Armenia’s Ministry of Defense, came to personify Deception. Capitalizing on the public’s trust in Nikol Pashinyan’s post-“velvet revolution” government, Hovhannisyan repeatedly misled the population about the realities on the battlefield, reinforcing false hopes with the slogan “We Will Win!” This fueled widespread misconceptions about the likelihood of an Artsakh Defense Army victory.
Read more in our article "“An Allegory Truth and Deception” and the 44-Day War".
Anna Hakobyan: Karabakh is a suitcase without a handle
The surrender of Artsakh seems to have been the underlying theme of the Pashinyan family’s political vision. There’s ample evidence to support this claim.
“I met Anna Hakobyan in 2013,” Aslamova recalls. “She told me: ‘Why do we need Karabakh? It should be turned into an autonomy. It’s like a suitcase without a handle - only Russia needs it. Because of Karabakh, we’re in an economic blockade, and all our borders are closed. Let’s make Karabakh into something like the Åland Islands.’” Aslamova continues, “The Åland Islands are officially part of Finland but function as an autonomous region under Swedish influence,” Novoye Vremya quotes her as saying.
In his scandalous interview, the former Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Movses Hakobyan, revealed that Prime Minister Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, who was not authorized to access state and military secrets, was present in the same bunker as the Defense Army’s Command Point during military operations.
On April 1, 2023, during an event marking the 23rd birthday of David Shahnazaryan — a soldier who fought and was killed in the war — Hakobyan made a false and inflammatory claim, stating that there had been over 11,000 deserters in the Armenian army during the conflict․ Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev used the words of the velvet "first lady" to publicly humiliate the Armenian army.
Infamous blogger Vardan Gugasyan (DOG) revealed that Anna Hakobyan met with Mehriban Aliyeva, the wife of the Azerbaijani president, in Dagestan on September 17, 2023 - just two days before Azerbaijan launched its attack on Artsakh.
Read more in our article "The Dark Side of the “Velvet” First Lady The Tribunal Accuses Anna Hakobyan of Complicity in Crimes Against the State and the People of Armenia"
Nikol Pashinyan, recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan in Prague in 2022, created the basis for the Azerbaijani attack in 2023.
In October 2022, during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, moderated by Charles Michel and Emmanuel Macron in Prague, Nikol Pashinyan recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, citing the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, which designated the region as part of Azerbaijan’s territory.
Through his actions, Nikol Pashinyan effectively removed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict negotiations not only from the OSCE Minsk Group format but also from the agreements reached on November 9, 2020, under the mediation of the Russian Federation. By recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, Pashinyan cast doubt on the rationale and legal basis for the continued deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region.
Nikol Pashinyan’s actions effectively gave Azerbaijan a free hand to complete the seizure of Artsakh and forcibly displace its Armenian population. On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijani “eco-activists” blocked the Lachin Corridor—the only transport link connecting Artsakh to the outside world—marking the beginning of the blockade. As a result, 120,000 people were left in isolation. Ration coupons were introduced, fuel reserves dwindled, essential medications disappeared from pharmacies, and there were persistent shortages of gas, electricity, and Internet access. On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched what it called an “anti-terrorist operation” in Nagorno-Karabakh, citing the need to “restore constitutional order,” prevent “large-scale provocations,” disarm and drive the Armenian military units out of the region. A day later, Baku and the authorities of Artsakh reached a ceasefire agreement through Russian mediation. As a result, the Armenian population was forced to flee Artsakh.
Read more in our article "Tribunal Blames Nikol Pashinyan for High Treason and Violation of the Constitution of Armenia".
All the perpetrators of provoking the 44-day war and the defeat in it have not just not been punished, but continue to determine the fate of Armenia: some are in power, others are in the "opposition."
To overcome the consequences of the war, the Armenian people must find the strength to take their own fate into their own hands and bring to justice all those responsible for the conspiracy against Armenia and Artsakh in 2018 and 2020.
The Armenian Public Tribunal project is confident that the Armenian people have many worthy sons who can lead the process of liberation from the gang of traitors and conspirators.
