Azerbaijan refutes Pashinyan’s territorial claims allegation Points to Armenia’s constitutional discrepancies

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada has responded to recent statements by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who claimed that Azerbaijan's Constitution allegedly contains territorial claims to Armenia. Hajizada dismissed these claims as baseless and an attempt to mislead the international community.

In a post on social media platform X, the spokesperson refuted Pashinyan's assertions, labelling them as a misguided attempt to divert attention from the territorial claims against Azerbaijan enshrined in Armenia's own Constitution, Caliber.Az reports.

Mr. Prime Minister, your allegations about #Azerbaijan’s Constitution containing territorial claims have no groundand are misleading the international community. This allegation is a futile balancing act and an attempt to overlook/ignore the claims towards the territorial… https://t.co/31fvmenWaN

— Aykhan Hajizada (@Aykhanh) November 14, 2024

“Mr. Prime Minister, your allegations about Azerbaijan’s Constitution containing territorial claims have no ground and are misleading the international community. This allegation is a futile balancing act and an attempt to overlook/ignore the claims towards the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

 It seems that there is a necessity to once again shed a light on this:

 First of all, even though the Constitution of Azerbaijan has a reference to the Independence Act of Azerbaijan of 1991 which refers to the Declaration of Independence of 1918 affirming the current Republic of Azerbaijan as a successor of the previous republic of 1918-2020, it does not contain any claim to the neighbouring countries. Both documents emphasize the importance of respecting common norms, principles, and good neighbourly relations. Most importantly, article 3 of the Declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan of 1918 notes that ‘the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic is determined to establish good relations with all nations, especially with neighbouring nations and states.’

On the contrary, the Constitution of Armenia is based on the fundamental principles of Armenian statehood and pan-national aspirations enshrined in the Declaration of Independence of Armenia of 1990, among which aims for a ‘reunification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh,’ and calls some territories of Türkiye as ‘Western Armenia.’ It is an irrefutable fact that this particular provision was used as a basis in Armenia’s multiple legislations, including Parliament’s decision of 18 February 1992 on the ratification of the CIS founding agreement (Almaty), and the decision of 8 July 1992. The same logic and approach were applied during the adoption of the court’s decision on the conformity of the regulation of the border commissions between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the Armenian Constitution of September 26, 2024.

 All these legislations demonstrate that Armenia has never recognized ‘Nagorno-Karabakh’ as part of Azerbaijan. Therefore, statements that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan have no legal ground until Armenia makes changes to its Constitution and renounces all the legal and political acts that reflect its claim to Azerbaijan.

Also, taking into account Armenia’s history of aggression against Azerbaijan while joining the Almaty Declaration as well as ongoing claims in its legislation as well as political statements, and legal documents it is time to ask for clarification on what is meant by the ‘recognition of each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty’ for Armenia back in 1992 and now?

 When it comes to the issue of regions demonstrated in the map submitted to the Peace Conference of 1919 (Prime Minister has identified them as Syunik, Vayots Dzor Provinces of Armenia fully included in Azerbaijan, as well as the territories of Ararat, Armavir, Gegharkunik, Tavush, Shirak, Lori Provinces included in part), in order not to falsify the historical facts, it is necessary to recall the dates these regions were officially included in Armenia, which are long after the map of Azerbaijan was submitted to Entente: Syunik (Zangezur) – November 30, 1920, and Vayots Dzor (Dərələyəz) – August 10, 1920. When it comes to other regions enumerated by the Prime Minister, most of their parts were incorporated into Soviet Armenia by altered administrative divisions that also in some case violated international treaties, such as the Moscow Treaty of March 16, 1921.

However, enumerating all these historical facts that could be proven with the official documents, does not mean that Azerbaijan has a territorial claim to Armenia,” the post by Hajizada says.

By Vafa Guliyeva