Both state symbols as well as Armenia’s national flag were inherited from a short-lived Armenian republic that existed from 1918-1920. They were slightly edited before being adopted by the country’s first post-Communist parliament in 1991.
In a Telegram post, parliament speaker Alen Simonian described the “Mer Hayrenik” (Our Fatherland) anthem as “alien” and said it must be replaced by genuinely “Armenian” song corresponding to “our state and Armenian music.”
Simonian went on to mock the coat of arms that consists of a lion and an eagle holding a shield depicting Mount Ararat and the emblems of four royal dynasties that ruled ancient and medieval Armenian kingdoms.
The emblematic mountain located in modern-day Turkey is shown rising above a sea that presumably symbolizes the biblical Deluge. Simonian scoffed at this scene as well as the emblem of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia that existed in the 12-14th centuries in what is now southeastern Turkey.
Turkey - Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian meets his Turkish counterpart in Ankara, May 4, 2023.
Pashinian likewise criticized the Armenian coat of arms last year, saying that it underlines a “dichotomy between historical Armenia and real Armenia.”
Reacting to Simonian’s comments, Armenian opposition lawmakers claimed that Pashinian’s government is planning to scrap the state symbols in order to placate Ankara.
“This is another demand of the Turkish-Azerbaijani duo,” said Gegham Manukian of the main opposition Hayastan alliance. He said that the two Turkic allies are trying to force Yerevan to erase any reference to millennia-old Armenian presence in their current territory.
“They need a small state which is detached from its roots and with which they could do anything they want,” added Manukian.
Hrach Hakobian, a parliament deputy from the ruling Civil Contract party and Pashinian’s brother-in-law, ruled out any “coercion” from Baku or Ankara. He said the questions raised by Simonian need to be openly debated.
A spokeswoman for Simonian insisted, meanwhile, that the speaker expressed his personal view and that there is no bill in circulation calling for the kind of changes that were advocated by him. Such changes would have to be put on a referendum.
Russia - Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are seen during a visit to the Catherine Palace in Saint Petersburg, December 26, 2023.
Simonian’s statement came on the heels of Pashinian’s calls for the adoption of a new Armenian constitution reflecting the “new geopolitical environment” in the region. Critics believe that the premier wants to get rid of a preamble to Armenia’s current constitution enacted in 1995. The preamble makes an indirect reference to a 1989 declaration on Armenia’s unification with Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan acknowledged last week Azerbaijan has objected to this constitutional introduction during talks on a peace treaty with Armenia. But both he and Pashinian allies said that the Armenian leadership is not seeking to change the constitution under Azerbaijani pressure.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry claimed on Monday that the Armenian constitution contains “encroachments on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.” It said Yerevan should take concrete steps to eliminate them.
Arusyak Julhakian, another lawmaker representing Pashinian’s party, accused Baku of trying to whip up political tensions in Armenia with such statements.