Armenia concerned about territorial claims in Azerbaijan's Constitution – Foreign Minister

YEREVAN, April 15. /ARKA/. The Constitution of Armenia does not contain any territorial claims against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Armenian side is seriously concerned by the fact that it is the Constitution of Azerbaijan that contains territorial claims, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.

“In their Constitution, they (Azerbaijan – ed.) refer to their Declaration of Independence, which states that the Republic of Azerbaijan is the successor to the First Republic, which existed prior to the Soviet Union. That First Azerbaijani Republic declared sovereignty over territories much larger than the internationally recognized borders of modern Azerbaijan. More than 60% of those territories are the sovereign and internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia. If we take a deeper look into their Constitution, it is undoubtedly a problem,” Mirzoyan said in an interview with Turkish TV channel NTV.

However, according to the minister, the proposed peace agreement between the two sides which Armenia is ready to sign already includes a mechanism for addressing this issue.

“Firstly, both sides recognize each other’s territorial integrity within the borders that existed at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union (as held by the Soviet Socialist Republics – ed.). This formulation is acceptable to both parties, because otherwise it would have been impossible to agree on the text. So, during the ratification process, after the agreement is signed, it must receive a positive conclusion from our Constitutional Court,” he noted.

At the same time, Mirzoyan stated that if the Constitutional Court determines that the proposed peace treaty including mutual recognition of territorial integrity with the specified understanding and borders is in line with the Constitution, then the issue can be considered fully resolved.

“And if, theoretically, the Constitutional Court finds the agreement inconsistent with the Constitution, then that would be a different matter. In such a case, naturally, the parties would return to the negotiating table to assess the next steps. But I repeat, this is purely a theoretical scenario,” the Armenian Foreign Minister added.