Armenia`s premier calls for being `cautious with history` 

ArmInfo.  Who do we want to be? Consumers of history or shapers of history? Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posed this question while speaking at the annual international conference "Orbeli Forum: Building Peace and  Multilateral Cooperation" on November 4 in Yerevan.

"The experience of the last two years suggests that we can be  creators of history, which does not mean forgetting history. Not  forgetting history and creating history means, at a minimum, not  being in the controversial role of narrator of history," he said.

Overall, according to Pashinyan, when referring to history, one must  always understand "where is the legitimate starting point of  history?" "There is 30-year history, 50-year history, 100-year  history, 500-year history, 1,000-year history, 5,000-year history."  "And if we try to find the justification and logic for our current  actions in history, it would mean we don't believe in peace," he  pointed out.

Pashinyan is convinced that "history is usually about conflicts, not  peace, since there is nothing interesting in the world, from a  historian's perspective."

"And why not refer to the history of that period? Incidentally, there  are historians, politicians, and political leaders who refer to the  history of those times, considering it a legitimate starting point,  when our region, including the history of Armenia and Azerbaijan, was  characterized by Kirovakans and Kirovabads, Leninakans and  Leninabads, Kuibyshevs, Oktemberyan cinemas, and so on. And yes,  there are political leaders who consider this the only legitimate  starting point," he stated.

The Armenian prime minister believes that "we should be more careful  with history." "In general, one of the most beloved and discussed  topics in Armenia in recent years has been the Historical Homeland.  But if we don't replace the perception of the Historical Homeland  with the perception of the Real Homeland, the idea of peace will  collapse altogether," Nikol Pashinyan said, once again calling for a  rethinking of national thinking.

Recently, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking at the Academy  of Sciences, instructed scientists to substantiate the right of  return, declaring that the most opportune moment had arrived for  this, while Azerbaijan was at the peak of its strength. In his  characteristic manner of interpreting history, the Baku leader  reiterated that Armenians were allegedly resettled in Karabakh by  Tsarist Russia from Iran and Anatolia, and that most toponyms in  Armenia, including Lake Sevan (which he called Goycha), are of  Azerbaijani origin, and that this is confirmed by maps of the Russian  Empire. Speaking about the return of Azerbaijanis, Aliyev reiterated  his thesis that this should not frighten Armenia, as it should happen  by car, not by tank, but emphasized that the primary responsibility  for implementing this idea lies with the state.  The President of  Azerbaijan directly called on academic circles to intensify their  work to ensure that the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia "sounds  completely logical and fair" to the international community.  This  narrative has been promoted for many years by Baku through the  organization "Western Azerbaijan Community" (formerly the "Union of  Refugees"), which has been promoting the "return" agenda to the  territory of the Republic of Armenia since 2022.