“Meaningless topic,” Pashinyan says “historical debates” are dangerous after Aliyev’s comments on toponyms
4 minute read
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to a recent controversial statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who claimed that maps published during the Tsarist Russian era show that most of the place names on the territory of present-day Armenia are of Azerbaijani origin.
The Prime Minister first emphasized the importance of the media accurately conveying information to the public, noting that some outlets had erroneously written that the Azerbaijani president said “there is no Lake Sevan, there is Lake Goycha.” However, as Pashinyan pointed out, the Azerbaijani president had actually stressed that Tsarist Russian era maps supposedly describe it so.
He noted that if journalists were to look up that map, they would see that, from this perspective, the map could be just as unfavorable for Armenia as it could be for Azerbaijan—if one wished to interpret it that way.
“For example, it might turn out that on that map Armenia exists, while Azerbaijan does not. If we are to rely on Tsarist maps, then why not also on those that came before—the sultanate-era, [Safavid], khanate-era, or caliphate-era maps—on which neither the Republic of Armenia nor the Republic of Azerbaijan existed? On the map being referenced, it is clearly written ‘Armenia’ in the area of today’s Republic of Armenia, while in the area of present-day Azerbaijan, the word ‘Azerbaijan’ does not appear,” Pashinyan said.
The Prime Minister said he considers this to be a meaningless topic and discussion — especially after the Washington agreements of August 8, 2025.
“What does it mean that the word ‘Armenia’ appears on that map but ‘Azerbaijan’ does not? What political conclusion does that lead to? When Vanadzor was called Kirovakan and Ganja was called Kirovabad, what did that mean? What conclusion should be drawn from that?” Pashinyan asked.
He added that he is not interested in such matters at all, since there are the agreements and initialed agreements signed on August 8, 2025, as well as the September 2024 regulations of the two countries’ border delimitation commissions.
Pashinyan also asked, “Who said those names are Azerbaijani? Those names are Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Mongolian—and in some cases, even Russian.”
As for Aliyev’s statement about Azerbaijanis ‘returning to Armenia by car, not tanks’, the Prime Minister said that peace means exactly that—people from Armenia being able to drive to Baku, and people from Azerbaijan being able to drive to Yerevan.
According to the Armenian Prime Minister, getting caught up in historical debates is dangerous for peace. He said that his proposal—and what also follows from the signed documents—is that such an approach should be abandoned.