BAKU — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Friday accused Armenia of stalling on a peace deal with Azerbaijan while reiterating his preconditions for its signing.
“Armenia is not interested in a peace treaty and lasting peace in the region,” he reportedly told visiting Turkish parliamentarians. “Armenia is deliberately stalling for time, buying new weapons from France and other Western countries, and conducting military exercises with third parties on its territory.”
Both Baku and Yerevan have reported significant progress toward a treaty during their negotiations. However, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has repeatedly lamented the lack of a “positive reaction” from Baku to an Armenian proposal to finalize and sign the treaty within a month.
Aliyev has made the signing conditional on a change to Armenia’s constitution, which he claims contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani leader reaffirmed that stance on Friday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry rejected this precondition in June, accusing Aliyev of undermining the peace process.
Aliyev indicated afterward that even if Yerevan meets his demands, Baku will not rush to sign the peace deal. He suggested that the two sides first work out the basic principles of the agreement and sign the complete document at a later date.
