This is the English translation of the editorial of the latest issue of Droshak. 

Editor’s Note

The ARF Bureau’s official organ, Droshak, has just published its January 2026 issue. This issue’s leading editorial presents a sharply critical assessment of Armenia’s current political trajectory, focusing on governance, foreign policy, national institutions, and the state of public trust. The views expressed aim to provoke serious public reflection and debate at a moment historically consequential for the Armenian state and society. As always, Droshak publishes this analysis in the belief that open, rigorous, and principled discussion is essential to the formation of informed civic judgment and responsible political action.

A government that continuously deceives its own people becomes alienated from them, finds itself in confrontation with society, and gradually transforms its continued rule from a mission of service into a struggle for survival—an ongoing effort to overcome the contradictions it has itself created.

An examination of the conduct of Armenia’s authorities shows that the current government has consistently sought to impose its agenda on domestic political life through relentless persecution, arrests, and various forms of manipulation, thereby maintaining control over the political initiative. By employing this same tactic in recent months, the authorities succeeded in diverting public and political circles away from dangerous pre-election internal tensions. The pre-election period is already marked by heightened political and social mobilization. Under conditions of widespread dissatisfaction in Armenia, such tensions could escalate rapidly and exert an uncontrollable influence on events.

For this reason, the authorities aim to keep all actors confined within the agendas they have imposed, at least until spring, when they expect to steer developments through planned events and actions. It should be recalled that during this period, two major European conferences will take place in Armenia, during which Western leaders are likely to be especially generous in promising a European future to the Armenian people and in offering various forms of support to the current government. Alongside this, other “surprises” are likely to emerge, as Azerbaijan and Turkey may contribute their share through certain “friendly” gestures to help keep the Civil Contract party in power. Already, so-called pre-election fuel is being sold by Azerbaijan to Armenia in limited quantities. After a break of three and a half decades, a freight train has entered Armenia via Azerbaijani territory. Armenian political prisoners have been returned from Baku to Yerevan through an exchange arrangement. In parallel, a false narrative of peace is being promoted to create the impression that peace has already been achieved and is irreversible.

For some time now, Nikol Pashinyan has been redirecting public attention toward attacks on the Armenian Church. There is no doubt that for Pashinyan—who has undertaken the task of uprooting national consciousness—the dismantling and subjugation of the 1,700-year-old independent Church to anti-national agendas is a strategic objective. At the same time, it serves as a convenient diversion whenever the time comes to account for unfulfilled promises.

Having come to power through promises of a better future, Pashinyan led Artsakh to total loss and placed Armenia before existential trials. Together with his team, he cannot point to a single success in any sphere. Moreover, his government has surpassed all previous administrations in the very crimes it once accused them of committing. This government squandered all the so-called trump cards and moral capital through which it rose to power. Instead of the promised democracy, Pashinyan transformed the country into a dictatorship. Rather than strengthening checks and balances, he hollowed them out, turning institutions into mere accessories that serve him personally. In this distribution of roles, the dirtiest and most thankless task was assigned to the law enforcement agencies. Prisons are filled with political prisoners detained on baseless charges, while Pashinyan’s relatives, close associates, and teammates amassed wealth at a staggering pace.

It is no coincidence that, as the head of a corrupt pyramid, Pashinyan fiercely defends every compromised member of the system, understanding that if the structure begins to crack, revelations could spread and deepen, collapsing the entire edifice built on sand. One of Pashinyan’s main promises was to punish former officials. Instead, what remained were unsubstantiated and fabricated accusations of a highly personalized nature, while representatives of the former corrupt system rallied around the new authorities. When mass support was needed, Pashinyan promised tax and duty relief for low-income groups. Today, however, the entire society is burdened by unprecedented levels of taxes, duties, and fines.

One of the most attractive baits used to win public support was the promise to ensure transparent and lawful elections. Yet recent local elections demonstrate that Pashinyan is prepared to trample any law or principle to prevent the public from developing hopes of regime change. He revived long-forgotten methods of electoral fraud, including power outages and ballot stuffing. Other issues were conveniently buried, including the mystery of 190,000 newly printed passports confiscated by Georgian customs officials. Attempts will likely be made to use forged passports in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

It must be acknowledged that the myth of Nikol Pashinyan as an incorruptible patriot emerging from the people and fighting for justice collapsed long ago.

By entering into murky deals with external powers and lacking any prior experience in foreign policy, Pashinyan not only dismantled and overturned the established logic of the Artsakh negotiation process but also became hostage to external forces that now compel him to pursue policies contrary to Armenia’s national interests. He speaks of peace without guarantees, while the so-called peace-loving neighbor fortifies military positions in territories seized from Armenia and conducts illegal trials in Baku against Armenian political and military leaders. Azerbaijan claims unrestricted rights over the so-called Zangezur Corridor and openly declares that Armenia is “Western Azerbaijan.” At the same time, Turkey does not conceal its plans regarding Zangezur as a pan-Turkic route. On January 6, 2026, Ilham Aliyev publicly stated before journalists that in today’s world, international law does not exist and that only power, cooperation, and alliance matter.

Feigning deafness and blindness to all this, Armenia’s rulers repeat their leader’s false claims about peace and mislead the public by asserting that Armenia has become truly independent only under their rule. Yet previous governments achieved victories by forcing the enemy to its knees, whereas the current authorities claim to strengthen independence by losing wars, surrendering borders, dismantling the army, and destroying its defensive capacity. Those who proclaim themselves leaders of an independent state make continuous concessions in foreign policy, never resisting demands and never advancing Armenian demands of their own. Abroad, they discredit national forces and seek external support to fight against them and retain power. If the difference between the former and current authorities is clearly defined, it can be said figuratively that the current leadership kneels before the enemy that once knelt before Armenia’s previous governments.

Pashinyan desperately needs external powers not to enforce the concessions he has promised until he secures his team’s victory in the upcoming elections. To distract the public from sensitive and complex issues, he is prepared to inflame the country’s internal atmosphere daily, and no issue serves this purpose better than attacks on the Mother Church.

Of course, the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem is prepared to temporarily restrain its ambitions to support Pashinyan directly and indirectly, but it doubts his ability to win and the prospects of implementing its predatory plans against Armenia. Therefore, Pashinyan—like a cornered beast—is being pressured to make concessions even before the elections.

By throwing sensitive topics into the public arena, Pashinyan diverts attention not only from his numerous past crimes but also from what he intends to carry out in the coming months, especially after consolidating power. On the Azerbaijani-Turkish and Western agendas remain the following: changing Armenia’s Constitution, thereby dismantling constitutional order; settling 300,000 Azerbaijanis in Armenia, effectively Turkifying Syunik; replacing economic and energy ties with Russia with Turkish-Azerbaijani ones; shutting down the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant and rendering Armenia energy-dependent on Turkey. Pashinyan’s government also plans to close nearly 250 schools and dismantle the scientific system by dissolving the National Academy of Sciences and academic institutes. Armenian studies subjects are being removed, restricted, or distorted within educational curricula. Everything that contains elements of national memory and identity—everything that could serve as a foundation for national, state, and cultural revival—is to be persecuted and eliminated.

In the coming months, Pashinyan and his nationally alienated team will continue to distract society with Church-related conflicts and other artificial agendas, violating the law and legality to prolong their rule. They seek to keep part of society captive to the immoral notion that Armenia’s future must be tied to Azerbaijan and Turkey, and that these are preferable to Armenia’s own former leaders.

To prevent this disastrous trajectory, national forces must now bring their agendas into the public square, compel the authorities to answer difficult questions, and demand accountability for seven years of promises and actions. Anyone aspiring to lead the country during this historically difficult period must present positive and alternative programs. We are convinced that the prolonged passivity of society stems from the absence of credible, roadmap-based programs capable of inspiring realistic hope. Balanced, constructive, unifying, confident, and effective political alliances—formed around shared goals—can still halt the conspiratorial and anti-Armenian plans devised abroad.

Droshak, Issue No. 1, 2026