We Recognize the Territorial Integrity of All Countries in Our Region and Expect the Same from Them: Pashinyan

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's statements made in early January 2024 during an interview with Azerbaijani television as a blow to the peace process. Pashinyan asserted that this blow is not an isolated incident but rather stems from a series of events, including ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, the rejection of the Granada meeting, the refusal to participate in Brussels meetings, and subsequent rejections of future gatherings.

“I also want to note that I recently responded to the Azerbaijani president's statements, and I must reiterate that having an army is a sovereign right of every state. The Republic of Armenia, like any sovereign state, has the right to maintain a strong and capable army, emphasizing that it does so to reinforce Armenia's territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence, and statehood,” he stated.

Pashinyan emphasized that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of all countries in the region and expects the same acknowledgment from its neighbors, particularly since this has been documented in signed agreements. “When I spoke about the Prague Quadrilateral Declaration, it is precisely about this matter. Discussing the territories present at the time of joining the Soviet Union is, I believe, inappropriate in this context. Why? Because I have already stated that the agreements between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been duly recorded in writing within the trilateral and quadrilateral formats, recognizing each other’s territorial integrity based on the Alma-Ata Declaration,” he concluded.