Which map will be used for border delimitation? The Foreign Ministry provides details.

According to the "Zhoghovurd" daily, "The President of Azerbaijan is simultaneously signing a Peace Declaration while not giving up on his authoritarian aspirations, continuing to promote the so-called idea of 'Western Azerbaijan', which includes a significant part of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

As the latest statements about mutual recognition of territorial integrity between Armenia and Azerbaijan do not refer to any specific maps in the sources mentioned, particularly in the declaration adopted in Prague in October 2022, which references the 1991 Almaty Declaration, "Zhoghovurd" has posed several questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan.

We specifically inquired:
1. Based on which specific map(s) have Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized each other’s territorial integrity, considering that there are no specific references to maps in the mentioned Prague and Almaty declarations?
2. Is there any agreed-upon or legally binding map that has been endorsed by both parties as the basis for recognizing territorial integrity?
3. Ilham Aliyev regularly articulates theses regarding “Western Azerbaijan,” which, according to him, is located within the current sovereign territory of Armenia.

We received the following responses from the acting head of the Information and Public Diplomacy Department of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Hakob Sargsyan: "We can emphasize that according to the regulations of the Joint Commission on Delimitation and Border Security between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, signed on August 30, 2024, the parties will base their delimitation process on the Almaty Declaration, unless other arrangements are provided in the peace agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh in the future. As evident from the preliminary agreement signed on August 8 and published on August 10, there are no other provisions stipulated. The full agreement is available here.

Moreover, confirming in the agreement that the borders established between the former Soviet Socialist Republics have become the international borders of the respective independent states and have been recognized by the international community as such, the parties recognize and will respect each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of international borders, and political independence."

The Armenian Foreign Ministry reminds us: "The fundamental principle of adhering to the 1991 Almaty Declaration as enshrined in the regulations determines the scope of relevant documents, as these documents must be those that existed at the moment of the collapse of the Union and are legally substantiated documents and maps that reflect the administrative border between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan. Regarding the so-called 'Western Azerbaijan' rhetoric you mentioned, Armenia’s position on that aspect has been articulated in various public responses."