Armenia’s authorities are seeking to shape a new “identity free of conflict,” redefining the purpose and ideology of the state. This is the view of former justice minister Arpine Hovhannisyan.
“I think the Fourth Republic has been proclaimed but has not been founded: it has a birth certificate but no passport,” Hovhannisyan said. In her assessment, the Fourth Republic will be founded in the conventional sense when constitutional changes reach their logical conclusion, including the removal of provisions linked to the Declaration of Independence.
One party’s election victory is not enough
Hovhannisyan believes the authorities are trying to turn their electoral mandate into a mandate to define the state’s identity. An election victory by one party, however, is insufficient to make any ideology a shared national one, she argues.
“If you truly want an ideology or a conception of identity to become universal, securing that agreement is essential,” she said. According to Hovhannisyan, if the redefinition of state identity proceeds without public agreement, Armenia may have to revisit the search for its identity and the purpose of its statehood after a change of government.
The “Real Armenia” ideology and the question of peace
In Hovhannisyan’s assessment, the “Real Armenia” ideology lies at the centre of the proposed new state identity. She describes it as civic rather than national in character.
She said the ideology also treats the state as existing for people, with the aim of providing prosperity and good living conditions. The understanding of homeland changes as well: it is presented as a specific address and a defined number of square kilometres rather than a dream.
Peace is central to this ideology. The former minister, however, stressed the distinction between peace as a value and peace as an established reality. In her view, the concept presented by the authorities treats peace as though it has already been established. She considers this its most vulnerable point: peace becomes the foundation of state identity, while Armenia cannot guarantee its continuation.
Azerbaijan’s identity as the main risk
Hovhannisyan said peace cannot automatically become a common ideology for Armenia and Azerbaijan because the two states have different understandings of their identities.
In her assessment, Azerbaijan’s identity has been shaped by hostility towards Armenians. She claimed that this hostility has served to offset domestic problems, including issues concerning democracy, human rights and political prisoners.
Hovhannisyan argues that Armenia’s decision to make peace a foundation of its state identity does not mean the same change is taking place in Azerbaijan.
“We make it our identity, but the key to it is in Azerbaijan’s hands. The moment Azerbaijan destroys that peace, our identity no longer exists,” she said.
If Armenia defines its new identity as one free of conflict while the preservation of peace depends on another state, its state identity becomes vulnerable, she argues.
The Third Republic as the focus of domestic opposition
In Hovhannisyan’s assessment, if a state bases its identity on peace that another state can disrupt, it becomes harder to regard that state as an enemy. The focus of opposition then moves inside the country, she said.
“Consequently, there is no external enemy, so there must be antagonism within. The internal antagonist is the Third Republic and all its components,” the former minister concluded.
For this reason, Hovhannisyan argues, the ideology of the Fourth Republic is built on stripping the Third Republic of legitimacy. She was referring to the ideas and institutions that shaped Armenia’s state identity, including the Declaration of Independence, the Artsakh movement, relations between the state and the church, the idea of homeland and patriotism.
In her assessment, these components of the Third Republic created a shared understanding in society, regardless of how strongly they were emphasised in school education or family upbringing.
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