Problems between Armenia and Russia are entirely Pashinyan’s fault – Semyon Bagdasarov

Semyon Bagdasarov, Director of the Center for Middle East and Central Asian Studies, spoke to Alpha News about the Armenian authorities’ attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenia-Russia relations amid Pashinyan’s anti-Russian statements, and the likelihood of a new war between Iran and Israel in 2026.

“Unfortunately, during certain historical periods, the Armenian elite—the aristocracy, the grand princes, the ‘nakharars’—were exterminated en masse by Arabs, Turks, and so on. Why? To prevent resistance against the enemy. But the Church survived for a number of reasons, and it has always embodied the Armenian people, the Armenian identity. Therefore, the destruction of the Armenian Church means everything. Armenian identity will be disrupted, and the connection between the diasporas will be destroyed, because there will be no one to rely on. Moreover, the highest pan-Christian values that the Armenian Church possesses are at risk. All of this will be plundered—that’s what we’re talking about,” Bagdasarov said.

According to the political scientist, the problems in relations between Armenia and Russia are entirely Pashinyan’s fault.

“We all know perfectly well: he’s an anti-Russian Russophobe who hates Russia by definition. He simply hates Russia, no matter what it’s called: the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, or modern Russia. When he became prime minister, he immediately began pursuing an anti-Russian policy. If you are concerned about your country’s security, and you have an adversary on both sides ready to devour you, you should build relations with the country that guarantees your security. But instead, he did everything he could to ruin those relations. It is clear that the team that came to power in Yerevan is oriented toward Turkey not because they want to, but because they owe it. Pashinyan owes it,” Bagdasarov noted.

According to the expert, every Armenian knows that the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance is Armenia’s historical enemy.

“The Turkish-Azerbaijani duo is Armenia’s historical enemy. Every Armenian knows the history of this relationship. And suddenly, it turns out that to protect our independence, territorial integrity, and much more, we have to fall into the jaws of this duo. Can you imagine: a lamb says to a lion, ‘Eat me, that will be the most reliable security measure.’ This is such cynical stupidity and a complete lie,” Bagdasarov noted.

Speaking about Iran, the expert noted that in all likelihood there will be a war between Israel and Iran in 2026.

“Everything is heading in that direction. Israel isn’t hiding it. And Trump is already giving in to Netanyahu’s persuasion. The fact is, Israel cannot do this without the Americans for a number of reasons. Israel’s dependence on the US is not only political and economic, but also military-technical. War is inevitable. It is about regime change, and Netanyahu has never hidden this. That means regime change in Iran. In this context, Iranians are also preparing for war. Specifically, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Army, a general, recently spoke and said that they have everything ready: missiles, new drones, and ground forces. In other words, Iranians are preparing for an attempt to destabilize them and, in essence, provoke mass unrest, the goal of which will be regime change, but in fact, the start of a civil war in Iran. This will have a negative impact on Armenia,” Bagdasarov concluded.