Does Azerbaijan truly have concerns about Armenia's Constitution, or seeks such a problem to be? - Pashinyan

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 11, ARMENPRESS. The Constitution of Azerbaijan explicitly contains territorial claims against Armenia, but there is no such claim against Azerbaijan in the Constitution of Armenia.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this during a question-and-answer session with the government in the National Assembly.

"Does Azerbaijan wish a demand against Azerbaijan to be included in our Constitution, or does it have genuine concerns that such a thing exists?" Pashinyan asked.

The Prime Minister emphasized that international agreements conflicting with the Constitution cannot be ratified.

 "Let’s assume we sign a peace treaty that includes a provision stating that Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan has no territorial claims against Armenia, recognizes each other's territorial integrity, and commits to not making any future territorial claims. This issue would then be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. If the Constitutional Court determines that this provision is inconsistent with our Constitution and confirms that we do, in fact, have territorial claims against Azerbaijan, we would need to address that situation. However, if the Constitutional Court finds that the provision aligns with the Constitution and sends it to the National Assembly, which ratifies it, then the provision stating that Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan would gain the highest legal authority," he said.

Pashinyan noted that once the agreement is ratified Clause 3 of Article 5  of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia stipulates that if there are laws that contradict the ratified international agreement, the international agreement prevails. 

Addressing concerns about potential future territorial claims, the Prime Minister stated that if such claims are to arise, they will emerge regardless of whether there is a peace agreement or not. The PM noted that the Constitution of Azerbaijan contains territorial claims against Armenia. 

"However, Armenia is not raising this issue because the above-mentioned procedure for the peace treaty will also be mirrored in Azerbaijan, and the issue will be resolved," Pashinyan said.

According to the Prime Minister, independent analysts in Armenia believe that Azerbaijan is leading the peace treaty process into a deadlock with its discussion related to Armenia's Constitution, in order to keep its territorial claims against Armenia open in its own Constitution.

 "In other words, Azerbaijan is accusing Armenia of having territorial claims against Azerbaijan, which is preventing the signing of the peace treaty. This means that the territorial claims against Armenia in Azerbaijan's Constitution continue to have de jure validity," Pashinyan said, reiterating that there are no territorial claims against Azerbaijan in the Constitution of Armenia.