In his essay "Hearth," published during the pre-perestroika era, he tried to demonstrate the Armenian identity of Nagorno-Karabakh and identified Nakhichevan as historically belonging to Armenia.

[3][4] In 1988, he and Armenian poet Silva Kaputikyan were received by Mikhail Gorbachev and discussed the absence of Armenian-language television programs and textbooks in Nagorno-Karabakh schools as well as other concerns of Karabakh's majority-Armenian population.

[7][8] Ayşe Günaysu, a member of the Committee Against Racism and Discrimination of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (Istanbul branch), stated that "it should be quite obvious, from the language used in depicting the torture, that the quotation was wholly made up.

"[9] Onur Caymaz, a Turkish writer, who originally backed the allegation, stated that he was wrong and that Balayan never wrote such a book.

[11] Balayan's views on the annexation of Crimea by Russia and alleged lobbying[12] activities were criticized by some Armenian politicians, including Igor Muradyan[13] and Levon Ter-Petrosian.