Armenia must change its constitution before it can sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on Thursday, reaffirming a precondition set by Baku.
Speaking during a visit to Georgia, Bayramov said the Armenian constitution contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan that represent “the most serious obstacle to concluding the peace process.” The two sides have significantly narrowed their differences on key terms of the treaty, he reportedly a joint news conference with his Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev likewise stated on June 6 that Azerbaijan will not sign the peace deal unless Armenia changes its constitution. He demanded earlier that Yerevan specifically remove from the constitution a reference to a 1990 declaration of independence which in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded by accusing Aliyev of “torpedoing the peace process.” It argued that one of the “agreed provisions” of a draft accord stipulates that the parties cannot use their domestic legislation for not complying with the document. Yerevan is ready to finalize and sign it within a month, added the ministry.
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“I cannot say that we have seen a positive reaction of our Azerbaijani counterparts to this proposal to sign the peace treaty within a month,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained during a visit to Estonia on Thursday. The treaty has been “almost finalized” by the two sides, he said.
Last week, Mirzoyan’s ministry claimed that Azerbaijan may be planning to unleash a “new aggression” against Armenia after hosting the COP29 summit in November. It pointed to Baku’s angry reaction to the latest French-Armenian arms deal signed in Paris.