Marukyan on the 6-Point Document Transferred by Armenia to Azerbaijan

There is no legal basis to suggest that a de jure Azerbaijani enclave has ever existed in Armenian territory. This was stated by Edmond Marukyan, Armenia's special representative, in response to statements made by Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan.

Khalafov had stated that on April 6 in Brussels, the Republic of Armenia agreed to start negotiations for a peace treaty based on the 5 points presented by Azerbaijan. Similar statements were also made by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister. How do you comment on this announcement?

We have addressed this topic multiple times. The Armenian Foreign Minister declared on March 21, 2022, that “there is nothing unacceptable for us in the proposals conveyed by Azerbaijan on March 10. The only thing is that these proposals do not address all issues on the Armenia-Azerbaijan comprehensive peace agenda. We have supplemented the agenda with our response sent to the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, and therefore, we are ready to commence peace negotiations based on that framework.”

During the trilateral meeting in Brussels on April 6, the Republic of Armenia also handed over a 6-point document to the Azerbaijani side, which includes issues related to the security, rights protection, and final status of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian side proposed to start negotiations based on two agendas towards a peace treaty. The Azerbaijani side agreed to this approach, after which an agreement was reached to engage in peace treaty negotiations.

Khalafov also made statements regarding the return of 7 villages in the Gazakh region and Tigranashen (Qarakilsa) to Azerbaijan, mentioning that these matters would be resolved during the delimitation and demarcation process.

We have repeatedly stated that the delimitation and demarcation processes should occur based on legally significant facts and documents. At this moment, we do not have any legal basis asserting that a de jure Azerbaijani enclave has ever existed in Armenian territory. On the contrary, there are legal grounds regarding the belonging of the village of Arzvashen to Armenia. The same applies to several areas belonging to Armenia, including the Sotk-Khoznavar section, where a notorious incident of illegal Azerbaijani military intrusion took place last May. These issues, of course, should be discussed and resolved within the framework of the delimitation and demarcation processes.