Armenia needs to change its Constitution, Azerbaijani FM says

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has called on Armenia to amend its Constitution to achieve peace in the region.

In an interview with Türkiye’s Anadolu Agency, Bayramov said Azerbaijan has created an opportunity for peace and normalization of relations in the South Caucasus after ending 30 years of Armenian occupation.

Bayramov recalled that official Baku first extended a hand of reconciliation to Yerevan in 2021, but Armenia remained unresponsive for about a year, Caliber.Az reports.

“Armenia was presented with five basic principles for a peace agreement in the early months of 2022, and discussions between the two countries began in October of the same year. The first draft of the peace agreement was also prepared by the Azerbaijani side and presented to Armenia.

Negotiations lasted for about two and a half years. A month ago, discussions concluded and the text was agreed upon. Throughout the talks, we kept Armenia and other interested parties informed about these matters. There are still important issues that need to be resolved.

The most critical among them is the presence of territorial claims against Azerbaijan in Armenia’s Constitution. As long as this remains, signing a peace agreement is not possible. Amending Armenia’s Constitution is necessary.”

The foreign minister also addressed Baku’s firm stance on the dismantling of the OSCE Minsk Group, which had been established to mediate the Karabakh conflict in the 1990s:

“The OSCE Minsk Group achieved no results in 30 years. The Karabakh issue has already been resolved, and these territories are part of Azerbaijan. Armenia has also recognized this. Under these circumstances, Armenia’s persistent efforts to continue the activities of the Minsk Group raise questions for us. We firmly demand the dissolution of the Minsk Group.”

Azerbaijan, with the support of friendly countries—first and foremost Türkiye—has thwarted Western plans, Bayramov said.

He noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs—the United States, France, and Russia—had taken no practical steps to resolve the Karabakh issue.

“No pressure was exerted on Armenia to end the occupation. The same approach was shown toward both the occupier and the occupied side. After the issue was resolved in the Second Karabakh War, Western countries, which had remained inactive for 30 years, began exerting pressure on Azerbaijan. They tried to ‘punish’ Azerbaijan for restoring its territorial integrity. Leading these efforts was France and President Emmanuel Macron himself. They sought to punish Azerbaijan through discussions at the UN Security Council and by attempting to impose EU sanctions,” Bayramov stressed.

According to him, these attempts were in vain.

“Under the Democrats in the United States, Armenia was supported, and for 30 years no pressure was applied to the occupying side. When Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity, they tried to punish and pressure us. But thanks to our independent foreign policy and the support of friendly countries—above all, brotherly Türkiye—Western plans failed,” Jeyhun Bayramov concluded.

By Khagan Isayev