Interviews

A QUESTION FROM HARUTYUN: Nikol, I’m very interested to know when the Congress will at last win.

NIKOL PASHINYAN’S ANSWER: Dear Harutyun, your question reminded me of Josef Svejk who made a date to meet one of his associates at the “U Kalicha” hotel at 3 pm following the war. I don’t want to put myself in Svejk’s position; and let’s not put ourselves in Svejk’s position. I had mentioned in one of my earlier answers that victory is not a period of time but the will power and the determination to follow through. I am certain we have that will power and that we will struggle until we triumph. All those who set deadlines before them in the first place reveal their weaknesses and hesitation. Hesitation is the most significant precondition for defeat. Strong people do not hesitate or set deadlines; they rely on their will power to realize the goal, to be consistent in their struggle to reach their goal, no matter when. For me, a deadline is not a specific date but the realization of the goal itself. In my view, time does not separate the goal from its realization; the goal cannot be estranged from the one who has the will to realize it by time. Time cannot stand between us and our goal; time cannot create a conflict between us and our goal. After all, our slogan provides the answer to your question, Struggle, Struggle to the End. Many people ask when that end might be. I answer: “the end” is the realization of the goal, after which begins the struggle for a higher goal. My best wishes to you, dear Harutyun.

A QUESTION FROM HAYK: Greetings, dear Nikol. I am happy that you try to be productive. You know better than me that the most interesting ideas are born when one is free of various responsibilities and not distracted by various circumstances as much (for instance, Adolf Hitler wrote his main work in prison), although I certainly do not compare you to him. New ideas always seem to be strange and incompatible but I am convinced that if there is no new idea and the objective of realizing a new point of view, everything would seem hollow; we would live just to have lived, we would say that we are Armenian just to remain Armenian. But that should not be the only basis of our unity; we should have a dream, shouldn’t we? What will be the basis of the unity of a new Armenia? What do you wish to create and what is your dream? Thank you in advance.

NIKOL PASHINYAN’S ANSWER: