Armenia, Azerbaijan must approve work regulations by July 1, proceed with delimitation of other sectors - Gor Tsarukyan

YEREVAN, JUNE 6, ARMENPRESS.After the border delimitation work between Armenia and Azerbaijan, border guard troops from both countries have been deployed on each side of the border line. According to the statement adopted by the border delimitation commissions on April 19, these commissions must develop and submit work regulations for approval by their respective governments by July 1 of this year. Afterwards, they will proceed with the delimitation of other parts of the border.

Gor Tsarukyan, Director of the "Public Relations and Information Center" of the Armenian Prime Minister's Office, made these remarks during an interview with the Public Television Company, in response to a question about the current stage of the border delimitation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Tsarukyan mentioned that the commissions, led by the deputy prime ministers of the two countries, have already completed the first stage of delimitation concerning the respective parts of four villages in the Tavush region.

Responding to the claim that the border delimitation process was imposed on Armenia and lacks any legal force, Gor Tsarukyan called it manipulation and noted that the main and primary beneficiary of the border delimitation process is the Republic of Armenia.

He also added that no side has forced Armenia to delimit borders, but at the same time, he emphasized that Azerbaijan insisted on the return of those four well-known villages. Regarding the observation that Azerbaijan even threatened war, Gor Tsarukyan confirmed that such formulations were made publicly.

"Azerbaijan insisted on the return of the villages without any delimitation process, without defining the border. They simply insisted: return the villages, period. As a result of the Armenian side's counter assertions, this delimitation process took place, through which it was possible to clearly define and delimit the legally valid border line that existed at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and to have a state border based on the Alma-Ata Declaration," he said, emphasizing that there was a demand from Azerbaijan to return these four villages, but the demand for the delimitation was made by Armenia.

"Touching upon the assertion that the border delimitation process is not legal because it contradicts the Constitution of Armenia and international treaties," Gor Tsarukyan said, noting that the legal bases for delimitation are the international legal contractual bases, according to which state borders are recognized at the international level.

"Armenia and Azerbaijan have a solid international legal basis, based on which they have begun and, I hope, will continue the delimitation. The first is the well-known Alma-Ata Declaration, approved by the parties in 1991, based on which the Minsk Agreement was signed, approved, and ratified.

"In paragraph 5 of the Minsk Agreement and paragraph 3 of the Alma-Ata Declaration, as well as in the corresponding provisions of the CIS Charter, it is clearly established that the parties recognize each other's borders and territorial integrity with the border line that existed at that time and had legal force, and they have no territorial claims against each other," he said, adding that these documents went through the proper ratification process in both countries, which means that both countries have a solid legal basis to initiate the delimitation process.

"It is necessary to note first and foremost that as a result of legal and expert examinations, it has been substantiated that the existing and legally justified border line between the Soviet republics at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union is presented on the maps of the General Staff of the Soviet Union from 1974-1978, the validity and legal force of which are also argued by the fact that these maps bear the seals and signatures of the heads of the State Geodetic Transcaucasian Regional Inspection of the Soviet Union" said Tsarukyan.

He noted that all this confirms that today's border line fully corresponds to the border line approved by the presidencies of the Supreme Councils of Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan in 1969.

Tsarukyan, in his conclusion and discussion of the next steps, stated that the commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan should submit the work regulations to their respective governments by July 1.

"Subsequently, these regulations should undergo approval. Following this approval, the delimitation process is expected to proceed," he said.