Azerbaijan Is Leading the Peace Process into a Dead End

According to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijan is leading the peace process into a dead end regarding discussions on Armenia's constitution, aiming "to avoid addressing or to keep open territorial claims against Armenia."

“Does Azerbaijan want there to be a territorial claim against Azerbaijan in our constitution, or does it have sincere concerns that such a thing exists?” asked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, adding, “The first case is different, but if we are talking about the second case, then what is our proposal? International agreements that contradict the constitution cannot be ratified. Let’s assume we signed a peace treaty stating that Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan has no territorial claims against Armenia, they recognize territorial integrity, and commit not to present any territorial claims in the future. This issue goes to the Constitutional Court, and if the Constitutional Court decides that this provision does not comply with our constitution because there is a contrary provision in the constitution, then the Constitutional Court records that we have territorial claims against Azerbaijan. However, if the Constitutional Court says that it complies with the constitution, it sends it to the National Assembly, which ratifies that provision stating that Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan, thus obtaining the highest legal force,” he explained.

According to him, if territorial claims emerge, they can arise regardless of the peace treaty and the constitution. “Human history has seen dozens and hundreds of such cases,” he noted.