Nikol Pashinyan, We Reject You

The Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Eastern U.S. issued the following statement on June 5, 2026, ahead of Armenia’s parliamentary elections.

We don’t claim to speak for every Armenian in the Diaspora. No one can.

But we speak for those who still see Artsakh as Armenian land.

For the descendants of genocide survivors who carry memory not as a burden, but as a responsibility.

For those who believe justice is not a fantasy of our imagination, but rather a requirement of our survival.

For those who continue to fight for the release of Armenian prisoners, political detainees, and every captive still waiting to come home.

And to you, Nikol Pashinyan, our message is simple:

We reject you.

We reject you because when our homeland, Artsakh, faced existential danger, you promised resistance until the end. Today, you tell us it was never truly ours. The same Artsakh that generations of Armenians defended, built, prayed in, and sacrificed for. The same Artsakh that the Diaspora raised millions for while you served as commander-in-chief.

We reject you because you treat our history as negotiable. Because you speak of Armenian suffering in ways that invite doubt where there should be certainty. The Genocide is not a matter of interpretation; it is our lived reality. It is the story of our families. It is the reason millions of Armenians like us live outside our homeland today.

We reject you because you arrived with the promise of democracy, then dashed our hopes by arresting dissidents, targeting the opposition, berating your own citizens, and using every instrument at your disposal to sway the results.

We reject you because you have come after everything we hold sacred, from Ararat to the Armenian Church.

We reject you because you replaced Armenian unity with hate and division.

But most of all, we reject you because you have tried to teach Armenians to expect less from themselves: less justice, less sovereignty, less dignity, less hope. You have tried to convince us that our rights are unrealistic, that our aspirations are dangerous, and that unconditional surrender is sophistication.

We reject you today so that history records exactly where we stood at this moment.

You do not represent us. You do not represent Armenia’s national interests. And you do not represent the enduring will of the Armenian people.

We stand with every Artsakhtsi. Every political prisoner. Every family waiting for justice.

We stand with the displaced, the marginalized, the forgotten, and the betrayed.

We stand with everyone who dreams of a truly free, independent, strong, and democratic Armenia.

The future of the Armenian nation will not be decided by one politician, one government, or one election.

It will be decided by Armenians everywhere, every day—throughout the homeland and across the world.