Although Armenia has entered a new stage in the peace process with Azerbaijan, there does not seem to be a unanimous opinion on the Karabakh issue within the country's political and military elite. This division became evident during the visit of foreign diplomats to the Karabakh region, which is the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.
The hysteria in Yerevan, the narratives about the Armenian heritage of the region, and the irresponsible statements made were clear examples of this.
Modern.az presents the names of individuals in Nikol Pashinyan's team who hold a revanchist position and do not accept the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace agenda.
Edvard Asryan – Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Army
The highest-ranking military officer in Pashinyan's team is Lieutenant General Edvard Asryan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces.
Asryan was born on May 22, 1977, in the village of Azikh, Khojavend district of Azerbaijan. He has served in various positions in the Armenian armed forces since 1994. In 2022, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff.
He served for many years in Armenia's occupying contingent in Karabakh and received the rank of Major General during the 2020 Patriotic War. His secret negotiations with foreign military delegations (e.g., Western missions) and visits to border regions openly hinder the formation of a peaceful environment.
Although there is no official statement from him against the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace since his appointment as Chief of General Staff, he is considered one of the main secret revanchists in Pashinyan's team.
Suren Papikyan - Minister of Defense
Armenia's Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan is also one of the key figures in the context of the peace process. He has been the Minister of Defense since 2021. Although he formally states that he supports the government's peace course, the Ministry of Defense under his leadership is actually carrying out the urgent rearmament of the army with offensive weapons from France, India, and other countries. The construction of offensive defense fortifications and underground bunkers on the border, and the re-education of the army in a spirit of revenge after being shocked, all take place under his control.
Andranik Kocharyan – Former Chairman of the Parliament's Defense and Security Committee
Andranik Kocharyan was one of the main political figures responsible for defense and security issues in Pashinyan's ruling team for a long time.
Kocharyan headed the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs of the Armenian Parliament since 2021. In August 2026, he announced that he would not run for the committee chairmanship and later moved to the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs. During his tenure as head of the parliamentary defense and security committee, he made statements that maintained tension in the region under the pretext of rearming the army. He is one of the key figures who demanded strict conditions for the signing of the peace agreement and fueled revanchist sentiments on the border with Azerbaijan.
There are more individuals with revanchist or hardline positions on the Karabakh issue among the former Karabakh leadership and Pashinyan's political rivals than in Armenia's current ruling team.
For example, former president Robert Kocharyan has repeatedly criticized Pashinyan's policy on relations with Azerbaijan and advocated for closer relations with Russia. According to Reuters data from 2026, Kocharyan is one of the main opposition figures criticizing Pashinyan's foreign policy course.
Representatives of the former Karabakh leadership are also specifically mentioned in this category. In February 2026, an Azerbaijani court sentenced Arayik Harutyunyan, one of the former Karabakh leaders, to life imprisonment; other former separatist leaders also received long-term sentences.
Thus, there is not enough confirmed basis to compile a
