On May 15, during an interview in Albania with Azerbaijan Public Television, the Armenian Prime Minister once again attempted to mislead the international community regarding the territorial claims in the Armenian Constitution and the dissolution of the Minsk Group.

It is an undeniable fact that expressions of support for territorial integrity in international agreements hold no significance for the Armenian side. To prove this, it is pertinent to recall the process of Armenia’s accession to the frequently referred Almaty Declaration, and how it has grossly violated this agreement. The Armenian reservations made during the process of joining the Almaty Declaration, and the existence of legislative acts in force that oppose recognizing Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, are well known. 

The Prime Minister’s attempt to substantiate his claims by referencing the constitutional provision that international treaties, which Armenia has supported and ratified, have supremacy over domestic laws is entirely baseless. To disprove this, it is sufficient to examine Article 5 of the Armenian Constitution (on the hierarchy of legal norms). According to this provision, the Armenian Constitution holds supreme legal force, and the Prime Minister’s reference to the supremacy of international treaties has no relevance to the Constitution. It is also well known that Armenia’s coat of arms, referenced in Article 21 of the Constitution, reflects Armenia’s territorial claims against neighbors. Thus, regardless of which treaties Armenia accedes to, the preservation of constitutional provisions that contradict Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity clearly serves a specific purpose. 

In addition, while the draft peace agreement discussed since October 2022 included the provision supporting territorial integrity, no one has forgotten how, in parallel, the Armenian leadership continued to support the puppet regime and legitimize it until the anti-terror measures of September 2023.

Moreover, it would be better for the Armenian side to explain why, for nearly 35 years, it has not adhered to the borders of 1991 and the agreements based on the Almaty Declaration regarding territorial integrity, and why it has refused to accept the borders reflected in Soviet maps.

In addition to the aforementioned, it is sufficient to remind the Prime Minister, who frequently refers to the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, that the Armenian side has not renounced the claims of the so-called “Western Armenia” back in January 2010, when the detailed justification provided by the Constitutional Court regarding the compliance of the Protocols on normalizing relations with Turkey with the Armenian Constitution, and that the same logic and approach were applied by the Court in its decision on 26 September 2024, concerning the compliance of the regulations of the border delimitation commissions between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the Armenian Constitution. Notably, the characterization of the preamble, and by extension, the Declaration of Independence within the Court’s decision as the “fundamental principles of Armenian statehood,” declaring them immutable provisions, demonstrates the extent of the threat posed by Armenia’s claims to Azerbaijan’s territories.

The logic of the Armenian Prime Minister in suggesting that these issues can be ignored indicates that Armenia is not interested in sustainable peace and is merely trying to maintain this situation as a fallback option for future aggression against Azerbaijan. Additionally, Armenia’s attempts to oppose the official dissolution of the Minsk Group, a remnant of the past conflict, and its efforts to tie the process to a peace agreement demonstrate the existence of a hidden agenda against Azerbaijan.

All of this further proves that amending Armenia’s Constitution, which poses a direct threat to Azerbaijan’s national security, is a fundamental condition for peace, and demanding this is Azerbaijan’s legitimate right.