Peace deal covers all contentious matters, Pashinyan says on Baku’s constitutional change demand
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that all contentious issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including Azerbaijan’s claims regarding Armenia’s Constitution, can be resolved through the final signing and ratification of the already initialed peace agreement.
The Prime Minister made the remarks during the Leadership at the Crossroads: Navigating Power and Stability in a Fragmented World discussion at the Paris Peace Forum, when asked to comment on Azerbaijan’s demand to amend the Armenian Constitution.
"Azerbaijan is raising this issue, but the situation is as follows: in 2024, the Constitutional Court of Armenia made a decision, which is a highest-level legal ruling, that the Constitution of Armenia does not contain any territorial claims against any of its neighbors," Pashinyan explained.
He also emphasized that the initialed peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan contains numerous provisions stating that the parties have no territorial claims against each other and are committed not to make such claims in the future.
"In the peace agreement, which has already been initialed, all apparent issues are addressed, meaning there is no such problem in our case. Therefore, even if there might be some assumptions or claims, the peace agreement covers all matters. To close and resolve all these issues, we need to sign and ratify the agreement, and after that, it will acquire the highest legal force, leaving no room for other interpretations," the Prime Minister added.
To finalize the peace agreement, Azerbaijan continues to make the amendment of the Armenian Constitution a precondition. Specifically, Azerbaijan insists that the reference to Armenia’s Declaration of Independence, which mentions Nagorno-Karabakh, must be removed from the Constitution. However, Armenia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the reference to the Declaration of Independence does not constitute a territorial claim. Furthermore, Armenia has repeatedly stated that it has no territorial claims against any country. The initialed peace treaty with Azerbaijan explicitly confirms that both parties have no territorial claims against each other and are committed not to make such claims in the future.