Pashinyan on Aliyev's Demands

The claims made by Azerbaijan that the Armenian Constitution includes territorial demands from Azerbaijan are based on the fact that the preamble of the Armenian Constitution references the Declaration of Independence, which mentions Nagorno-Karabakh. This was stated today by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a Q&A session with the government in the National Assembly.

He recalled that the Armenian Constitutional Court, in its decision of September 26, noted that this reference to the Declaration of Independence pertains exclusively to those provisions that have been explicitly enshrined in the articles of the Constitution. 'There is no provision in the text of the Armenian Constitution that refers to Nagorno-Karabakh, either directly or indirectly. It should also be noted that there is a clear hierarchical difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution based on the adopting entities. That is, while the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR, the Constitution was adopted by the people of the internationally recognized sovereign state of Armenia.'

He added that the preamble of the Azerbaijani Constitution references the constitutional act adopted on October 18, 1991, which in turn refers to the Declaration of Independence of the first Republic of Azerbaijan adopted on May 28, 1918. The Declaration of Independence of the first Republic of Azerbaijan states that the first Republic of Azerbaijan includes Eastern and Southern Transcaucasia. In November 1919, the Republic of Azerbaijan submitted its administrative-territorial map to the Entente, according to which the territories of Armenia's Syunik and Vayots Dzor regions, as well as parts of the Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Tavush, Shirak, and Lori regions, are included within Azerbaijan. This is about 60 percent of today’s territory of Armenia.

These references make it evident that the Azerbaijani Constitution contains territorial claims against Armenia,' Pashinyan stated, adding that Armenia is not raising the question of changing the Azerbaijani Constitution for two reasons. Firstly, such a demand would lead the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process into a deadlock, and secondly, the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan includes an article stating that the parties cannot refer to their domestic legislation to justify the failure to implement this agreement. Another article of that agreement states that the parties acknowledge each other's territorial integrity, have no territorial claims against each other, and undertake not to present such claims in the future,' the Prime Minister said.

He declared that if after the signing of the peace treaty, the Constitutional Court decides that this text does not correspond to the Armenian Constitution, Armenia can initiate constitutional amendments. But if the Constitutional Court finds that it complies with the Constitution, then it will be ratified in the National Assembly. Summarizing his remarks, Pashinyan said, 'We are not raising the issue of amending the Azerbaijani Constitution, and in the same logic, we believe that there is no need to amend the Armenian Constitution in this context.'