Armenian analyst criticizes president's Davos remarks thanking Azeri leader

An Armenian political analyst has strongly criticized President Vahagn Khachaturyan’s remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the president repeatedly thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and at one point apologized to him, calling the comments a troubling political signal rather than routine diplomacy.

In a social media post on Thursday, Suren Surenyants said Khachaturyan’s statements should not be viewed as a standard diplomatic gesture given the context of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations shaped by military pressure, the continued threat of force and the effective legitimization of the depopulation of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

“The problem is not gratitude itself, but the process for which it is expressed,” Surenyants wrote, arguing that public expressions of gratitude toward Azerbaijan under such conditions amounts to a justification of defeat rather than an expression of peace-seeking.

He also took issue with Khachaturyan’s reference to “political will”, saying the term implies agency and equal choice, conditions he said do not exist for Armenia in negotiations conducted under coercion. Presenting concessions made under the threat of force as the result of mutual political will, Surenyants argued, distorts reality and normalizes the position of the defeated side while diluting responsibility for aggression.

Surenyants compared the Davos remarks to Soviet-era practices in which leaders of union republics competed in praising Moscow, portraying dependence as “brotherly unity”. He said a similar dynamic is now emerging, with Armenian leadership internalizing a process in which it no longer sees itself as an equal party.

According to the analyst, Khachaturyan’s speech aligns with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s broader political line, which frames defeat as strategic choice and concessions as realism.

Surenyants stated the Davos remarks reflect a “philosophy of defeat” that could undermine Armenia’s negotiating position and its sense of statehood and dignity.