Azerbaijan says Armenia must eliminate territorial claims from its constitution

ISTANBUL

Baku on Monday said Yerevan must eliminate points included in the country’s official documents, including its constitution, containing claims against Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada in a statement said comments made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a meeting with the Armenian community in Munich on Sunday are “regrettable” because they “mislead the international community.”

Hajizada was answering a question from the local media regarding Pashinyan's statement, where the Armenian premier claimed that "the international community did not support Garabagh's (Karabakh) right to self-determination."

“It seems that the Prime Minister considers it illogical to continue these claims — not as they are unfounded, but rather because the international community does not support them. Furthermore, this implicitly demonstrates that Armenia's claims are still continuing,” Hajizada said.

"In this context, it is necessary to eliminate claims in the Constitution and legislative acts of Armenia against our sovereignty and territorial integrity," he added.

He further said Pashinyan’s comments further show the importance of international pressure to discourage Armenia from “pursuing a stance against international law.”

Pashinyan’s claims that Azerbaijan violated the Trilateral Statement between Baku, Yerevan, and Moscow do not have “any grounds,” he noted, adding that Armenia still has not withdrawn its forces from Azerbaijani territory or opened communications in the region, contrary to its obligations.

“Armenia must realize that the only way to ensure stability and peace in the region is to build positive relations with neighboring countries based on recognition and adherence to sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as to engage in constructive dialogue directly with Azerbaijan to establish peace,” he concluded.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during the war in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, opening the door to normalization.

Baku initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh last September to establish constitutional order, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.