By Wally Sarkeesian
Armenia stands in the shadow of betrayal
Will Pashinyan end up in the same rat hole as Saakachvili?
History has a way of repeating itself. Georgia lived through it under Mikheil Saakashvili, and now Armenia is enduring it under Nikol Pashinyan. Both men came to power promising reform, but instead delivered betrayal, division, and national decline. Both aligned themselves with Turkey and Azerbaijan, deceived the European Union, and pursued policies that hollowed out their own states from within. And just as Georgians eventually realized the scale of Saakashvili’s treachery, Armenians, too, will awaken to the truth about Pashinyan.
Saakashvili’s Georgia became the playground of foreign interests. Turkey and Azerbaijan built oil pipelines and railways across Georgian territory, effectively transforming the country into a geopolitical pawn designed to weaken Russia. The cost was devastating: Georgia lost two provinces and its sovereignty was compromised. Eventually, the Georgian people understood what had been done to them. They rose up and rejected Saakashvili, leaving him disgraced and imprisoned.
Nikol Pashinyan’s betrayal of Armenia, however, runs even deeper. Posing as a reformer and democrat, he worked hand in hand with Turkey and Azerbaijan while pretending to defend Armenian interests. He orchestrated a staged war over Artsakh, only to surrender it outright. For seven long years, Pashinyan maintained the illusion of negotiations and consultations, which were nothing more than deliberate stalling tactics. These years were not about peace; they were about buying time for Pashinyan to consolidate his power and prepare the machinery of repression.
The most blatant betrayal came with the November 9, 2020 capitulation, where Pashinyan not only handed Artsakh to Azerbaijan but also opened the door to a new geopolitical trap: a corridor across Armenia, linking Turkey and Azerbaijan directly. This was done without a national referendum, without consulting the Armenian people, and without any democratic mandate. Every major concession—from Artsakh’s surrender to the corridor agreement—was forced upon the nation without its consent. Like Saakashvili before him, Pashinyan turned his country into a passageway for foreign powers, disregarding the will of his people.
Like Turkey and Azerbaijan, Pashinyan built a vicious police state. When Armenians resisted his rule, he unleashed his forces with brutality—beating protestors, dragging citizens off the streets, and filling the prisons with political detainees. His repression has not stopped with opposition politicians. Business leaders, religious figures, and ordinary citizens have all been targeted. Armenia’s prisons are increasingly filled with political prisoners, while its streets echo with the silence of fear.
This is no accident. Pashinyan has carefully dismantled the foundations of Armenian society. By weakening the Church, silencing independent voices, and terrorizing the population, he seeks to sever Armenians from their identity and their means of resistance. What he has done to Artsakh is only part of the picture. His true crime is the systematic destruction of Armenia’s very soul.
Just as Georgians recognized the disaster Saakashvili brought upon them, Armenians too will one day see the full scope of Pashinyan’s betrayal. His alliance with Turkey and Azerbaijan, his deception of the Armenian people, his surrender of Artsakh, and his imposition of the corridor without a referendum will not be forgotten. History will not absolve him. And when the Armenian people rise—as they inevitably will—Pashinyan will meet the same fate as Saakashvili: disgraced, broken, and imprisoned.
For now, Armenia stands in the shadow of betrayal. But betrayal has a way of sowing its own destruction. The silence cannot last forever. Just as the Georgian people reclaimed their voice, so too will Armenians reclaim their dignity, their land, and their future.