Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev demanded such guarantees in early December, saying that an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty would not be enough to preclude another war between the two countries. Aliyev did not elaborate on the safeguards against Armenian “revanchism” that would satisfy him.
Pashinian was understood to express readiness to meet this demand if Baku recognizes Armenia’s territorial integrity through that treaty “without any reservations.”
“We expect from Azerbaijan guarantees that Azerbaijan does not want to leave grounds, between the lines, for future territorial claims to Armenia,” Pashinian told senior members of his party in southeastern Vayots Dzor province. “We want such guarantees. But I must also say we are ready to give [Azerbaijan] such guarantees.”
“This should be a mutual action. It cannot be unilateral for us or for them,” he said.
Pashinian made the remarks one day after declaring that Armenia must adopt a new constitution reflecting the “new geopolitical environment” in the region. That was widely construed as a further indication that he wants to get rid of a preamble to the current Armenian constitution enacted in 1995.
The preamble makes reference to a 1990 declaration of independence adopted by the republic’s first post-Communist parliament. The declaration in turn refers to a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. It also calls for international recognition of the 1915 genocide of Armenians “in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.”
Five lawmakers representing the main opposition Hayastan alliance issued a joint statement on Friday night condemning Pashinian’s plans for the new constitution.
“Pashinian is trying to launch a new attack on one of the pillars of the Third Republic of Armenia, preparing the ground for meeting another of the nonstop Turkish-Azerbaijani demands,” they charged.
Armenia - Opposition deputy Kristine Vartanian speaks during the government's question-and-answer session in parliament, April 13, 2022.
“What regional changes have left Armenia needing a change of its constitution?” one of those lawmakers, Kristine Vartanian, said. “The biggest change is the establishment of Azerbaijani control over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). [Pashinian] is openly telling us that our constitution must also reflect this reality.”
Pashinian recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh months before Baku recaptured the region as a result of the September military offensive that forced its population to flee to Armenia. The Armenian opposition says the recognition paved the way for the assault.
Vartanian and other signatories of the statement were recently allowed by the Armenian Foreign Ministry to read Azerbaijani proposals regarding the peace treaty currently discussed by the two sides. They said afterwards that Baku is seeking the kind of agreement that would leave the door open to future territorial claims to Armenia.
Some Armenian officials have made the same claims. Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke on January 10 of “some regression” in the Azerbaijani position on the treaty.
Earlier this month, Aliyev renewed his demands for Armenia to open an extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. He also demanded Armenian withdrawal from “eight Azerbaijani villages” and again dismissed Yerevan’s insistence on using the most recent Soviet maps to delimit the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Pashinian on January 13 said Aliyev’s demands amount to territorial claims to Armenia and accused Baku of undermining prospects for the signing of the peace accord. Still, a few days later, he expressed hope that Azerbaijan is committed to making peace with Armenia. He went on to make the latest overtures to Baku.