NEW YORK — Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not only possible but within reach, according to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In his speech delivered at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Pashinyan expressed optimism about the ongoing peace negotiations.
“The President of Azerbaijan and I have stated many times that at least 80 percent of the mentioned agreement has been agreed upon,” he said. “Now, to seize this historic opportunity and avoid the risk of reaching a deadlock, Armenia proposes to take what has already been agreed upon in the draft Agreement, sign it… and then continue with negotiations on pending issues. We are ready to do this right now.”
Pashinyan recalled that on August 30, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the Regulation on the Joint Activity of the Commissions on Delimitation of the state border between the two countries, marking the first bilateral legal document signed between the parties.
“But what is more important with that document is that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to set the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration as the basic principle of border delimitation between the two countries and will be guided by it. This means that Armenia and Azerbaijan have de jure reconfirmed the principle of recognizing each other’s territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders that existed during the Soviet Union. This is a fundamental factor for establishing peace. Now it is de jure reconfirmed that the two countries have no territorial claims against each other,” Pashinyan explained.
“What we have to do now is take the next step and sign the Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Inter-State Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan,” he emphasized.
The agreed-upon articles of the draft Peace Agreement contain provisions for peace, the recognition of territorial integrity without future claims, the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the creation of a joint commission to oversee the implementation of the Peace Agreement. Additional provisions include not interfering in each other’s internal affairs, refraining from the use of force or threats of force, and other important clauses.
“Signing the Peace Agreement with the already agreed-upon articles will significantly facilitate the resolution of the remaining issues. The already agreed-upon parts of the draft Peace Agreement provide tools for this: one is the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the second is the joint Armenia-Azerbaijan commission to oversee the implementation of the Peace Agreement. The existence of de jure peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan through the signing of the proposed Agreement, along with the establishment of diplomatic relations, will change the overall atmosphere and perception among our Governments and Peoples, thereby significantly easing the resolution of the remaining issues,” Pashinyan said.
However, Azerbaijan contends that the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia poses an obstacle to the Peace Agreement, as it allegedly contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
“Under Paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, ratified international agreements have precedence over the domestic legislation of the Republic of Armenia. Therefore, after the signing and ratification of the Peace Agreement with Azerbaijan, theoretically, even if there were laws that could be interpreted as containing territorial claims, these documents would be subordinate to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Agreement and would automatically have no legal force. The same logic would apply to Azerbaijan, of course,” Pashinyan clarified.
Pashinyan continued, “If our Constitutional Court decides that the Peace Agreement with Azerbaijan contradicts the Constitution of Armenia — although our experts assure this is not likely — then we will face a specific situation where constitutional changes will be needed for the sake of achieving peace.”
