BAKU — Hikmet Hajiyev, an aide to the president of Azerbaijan, has once again linked the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia to amendments to the Armenian Constitution.
The senior Azerbaijani official made the statement during an interview with Haber Global television.
“We expect the provision containing territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as well as Turkey, to be removed from the Armenian Constitution. The messages being conveyed indicate that a process to adopt a new Constitution will begin in Armenia and may be accompanied by a nationwide referendum,” Hajiyev said.
He added that, under such circumstances, he saw no obstacle to signing a final peace treaty with Armenia. He also stated that peace already exists in the region in practical terms.
One of Azerbaijan’s principal demands is an amendment to the Armenian Constitution, whose preamble refers to the Declaration of Independence. The declaration, in turn, is based on the December 1, 1989, joint decision of the Supreme Council of Soviet Armenia and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh concerning the “reunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has also emphasized the importance of amending Armenia’s Constitution, while maintaining that the matter is an internal issue for Armenia.
“The issue of the Declaration of Independence and the issue of our Constitution are our internal matters, because addressing them is necessary for us—not for others—in order to properly position ourselves in the world. The Declaration of Independence is not a declaration of independence; it is a declaration of conflict and, therefore, a declaration of dependence,” Pashinyan told reporters on March 19.
