If Yerevan Wants Peace, It Must Cooperate with the Judicial Process, Hajiyev Says

"Armenia must amend its Constitution by removing territorial claims against Azerbaijan," Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to Ilham Aliyev and head of the foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani presidential administration, stated today during a press conference in Baku.

For a long time, Azerbaijani officials have demanded the removal of references to the Declaration of Independence from Armenia's Constitution, which mentions the reunification of Artsakh and Armenia. Baku considers this a territorial claim against its territory. Yerevan has repeatedly stated that it has no territorial claims against its neighbors, including Azerbaijan.

Against the backdrop of Azerbaijan's ongoing demands to change the Constitution, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan instructed to draft a new constitutional project by the end of 2026, simultaneously rejecting claims that changes to Armenia's Constitution are being made at Baku's request.

"If Yerevan wants peace, it must cooperate with the judicial process," the Azerbaijani official also noted today, stating that if Armenia desires peace, "it must cooperate with the judicial proceedings ongoing in Baku."

Hajiyev mentioned that there are individuals who have committed war crimes against humanity and the Azerbaijani people on Armenian territory and that they must also be held criminally responsible.

Currently, 23 Armenians are held in Azerbaijani prisons, including 16 individuals captured as a result of the military assault on Artsakh on September 19, 2023. Among those captured are eight Artsakh officials, including former presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, National Assembly Speaker Davit Ishkhanian, former Prime Minister Ruben Vardanyan, former Defense Army Commander Levon Mnatsakanyan, former Deputy Commander of the Defense Army David Manukyan, and former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan.