AZE.US
Political analyst Alexander Iskandaryan said on Echo Baku that statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, including during and after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, are largely tailored to different segments of Armenia’s domestic audience rather than driven only by foreign policy logic.
According to Iskandaryan, the same message can be heard very differently across Armenia. A pro-European and more anti-Russian voter may see Pashinyan’s tone as proof that he is willing to speak bluntly to Moscow, while a more pro-Russian voter may focus on the fact that Pashinyan traveled to meet Putin and held talks with him at all.
He said this balancing act across multiple constituencies has become one of the Armenian political elite’s main tasks ahead of upcoming elections. In that context, even references to Baku can be used as part of Armenia’s internal political messaging, sometimes less as a reflection of real policy than as an image designed for domestic consumption.
Iskandaryan also argued that much of the current discourse should be viewed as part of Armenia’s internal political struggle rather than a direct indicator of its future foreign policy course. He said the real picture will become clearer only after the elections, when it will be easier to judge the behavior of official Yerevan, Baku and Moscow.
He added that even the word “peace” is understood differently across Armenia, based on focus-group work conducted in different regions of the country. That, he suggested, is one more reason why Pashinyan’s rhetoric is calibrated so carefully for different audiences.