Mirzoyan: Azerbaijan does not demand changes to Armenia’s constitution

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke about Azerbaijan’s main conditions for signing a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan during remarks to parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee.

“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports, citing the Sputnik Armenia news agency, that Mirzoyan, commenting on Azerbaijan’s position regarding amendments to Armenia’s Basic Law (Constitution), said it was important to distinguish between the legal concepts of a “demand” and a “precondition.”

According to Mirzoyan, Azerbaijan has not directly demanded that Armenia amend its domestic legislation, but has openly stated that it will not sign a peace agreement until the Basic Law is changed:

“The Azerbaijani side is not directly demanding that Armenia change its Constitution. However, Baku openly states that even if agreement is reached on the text of the peace treaty, the document will not be signed until Armenia changes its Basic Law and removes territorial claims against Azerbaijan. In other words, for official Baku, this issue is a key precondition for signing the agreement,” Mirzoyan said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan previously claimed that the issue of changing Armenia’s Constitution had not been discussed directly at the negotiating table with Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Armenian Justice Minister Srbui Galyan said work was continuing on a draft of a new constitution. However, she declined to comment on the precise publication date of the draft or on statements by Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, regarding Armenia’s constitutional process.

Azerbaijan’s position is clear and unchanged: Baku has repeatedly stated that indirect territorial claims against Azerbaijan’s sovereign territories, contained in Armenia’s current Constitution through its reference to the Declaration of Independence, must be removed. Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has also stressed that amending Armenia’s Constitution and fully removing claims against Azerbaijan in the legal sphere are the final and most important steps toward signing a comprehensive peace agreement.