Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev signed the declaration in the Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha) that was captured by Azerbaijani forces during the 2020 war. They pledged to further deepen Turkish-Azerbaijani ties and, in particular, provide “mutual military assistance” in the event of an armed conflict with third states.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry at the time condemned their visit to Shushi and accused Turkey and Azerbaijan of threatening Armenia’s territorial integrity after their “joint aggression” against Karabakh. It pointed to the Shushi declaration’s references to a “corridor” that should connect the Nakhichevan exclave with the rest of Azerbaijan via Armenia’s Syunik province.
The main opposition Hayastan alliance proposed earlier this month that the Armenian parliament also condemn the “provocative” declaration. A parliamentary resolution drafted by it says the document raises questions about Ankara’s readiness to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations “without preconditions.”
Hayastan and the other parliamentary opposition bloc, Pativ Unem, collected enough signatures to force a parliament debate on the proposed resolution. The session did not take place, however, because the deputies representing the ruling Civil Contract party boycotted it and prevented the National Assembly from making a quorum.
Ishkhan Saghatelian, a deputy speaker of the parliament affiliated with Hayastan, deplored the boycott, saying that the parliamentary majority is thus “catering for Turkish-Azerbaijani interests.”
The parliament committee on defense and security refused to back the opposition measure last week. Some pro-government members of the committee said that it would complicate the Armenian government’s ongoing efforts to normalize relations with Ankara.
Turkey lent Azerbaijan decisive military support during the six-week Karabakh war. Yerevan says that Turkish military personnel participated in the hostilities on the Azerbaijani side along with thousands of mercenaries recruited in Syria’s Turkish-controlled northern regions.