Armenia’s Pashinyan Blasts Israel Over Weaponizing 1915 Events

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accused Israel of turning the 1915 events into a geopolitical instrument, saying foreign powers were exploiting the memory of Armenian victims for their own disputes.

Pashinyan singled out the Israeli government, arguing that it had moved decisively toward recognition before abandoning the effort with equal resolve.

“Quite recently, the Israeli government began a process of recognizing the ‘Armenian Genocide’ with the greatest determination, and then, with the same determination, stopped that process,” he said.

Warning Against Weaponizing History

The Armenian leader framed Israel’s approach as part of a broader pattern in which outside powers deploy Armenian historical trauma against one another while Armenians bear the consequences.

“International players weaponize the bones of our martyrs and use them to fire at one another, but it is we who are killed, just as happened at the end of the 19th century, at the beginning and end of the 20th century, and until very recently,” Pashinyan said.

He called for Armenia to break with that dynamic, declaring: “We must put an end to this process of weaponizing the ‘Armenian Genocide.’”

Russia’s Security Role Questioned

Pashinyan said Armenian-Russian relations had for two centuries rested on the premise that Russia served as the security guarantor of the Armenian people and, later, the Armenian state.

He said he had not questioned Moscow’s commitment to that role. But developments in 2021, 2022 and 2023 had demonstrated what he described as significant limitations arising from Russia’s own security problems.

Pashinyan pointed specifically to September 2022 and September 2023, saying those episodes had forced Armenia to confront what he called its failure to learn from history.

Armenia as the Only Homeland

The prime minister also rejected political concepts that locate an Armenian homeland beyond the borders of the Republic of Armenia.

He said Armenia should not be sought in Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Iran or Georgia, arguing that doing so distracted from the interests and responsibilities of the Armenian state itself.

Pashinyan also warned that territorial thinking beyond Armenia’s internationally recognized borders could invite neighboring states to advance corresponding claims against Armenia.

That approach, he argued, would leave Armenia confronting four neighbors while weakening attention to its own statehood.

He said the Republic of Armenia should instead be treated as the homeland to be developed and transferred from one generation to the next.

EU Application and Referendum

Pashinyan meanwhile set out a potential sequence for deeper integration with the European Union.

He said Armenia would first need to lodge a formal membership application, adding that work toward such a step could begin in the near future.

He said initial moves were also being made to secure access to the EU market, while Armenians would need time to assess the economic implications.

According to Pashinyan, a referendum on EU membership should come only after Armenia submits an application, receives a response and obtains a roadmap for the accession process.

Pashinyan Challenges CSTO Membership

The prime minister also sharpened his position toward the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

Pashinyan said he would welcome a decision by the alliance to remove Armenia, arguing that such a move would resolve Yerevan’s continuing dilemma over whether to withdraw itself.