Azerbaijani President Aliyev has repeatedly described such a change as a precondition for signing a peace deal with Armenia. Aliyev reiterated it during talks with foreign leaders held in recent days.
Baku points to the constitution’s preamble that mentions a 1990 declaration of Armenia’s independence. The declaration in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.
Echoing a recent ruling by the Armenian Constitutional Court, Pashinian downplayed the legal significance of the preamble. Articles of the constitution take precedence over it, he said, adding that it is the Azerbaijani constitution that lays claim to Armenian territory.
“Armenia, however, does not raise the issue of changing the Azerbaijani constitution for two reasons,” Pashinian told the Armenian parliament. “First, such a demand would deadlock the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process. And second, there is an article in the agreed part of the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan which states that the parties cannot refer to their domestic legislation to justify their failure to implement this treaty.”
“By the same logic, we believe that there is no need to amend the Armenian constitution in this context,” he said.
Pashinian himself declared in January that Armenia needs a new constitution reflecting the “new geopolitical environment” in the region. He denied critics’ claims that he wants to scrap the current constitution at the behest of Baku. Still, Pashinian said at the time that peace with Azerbaijan will be impossible as long as the constitutional reference to the 1990 declaration remains in place.
In May, the Armenian premier ordered an ad hoc government body to draft the new constitution by the end of 2026. The head of the body said afterwards that it will likely be put on a referendum in 2027.
Pashinian said on Wednesday that he could “initiate constitutional changes” in the unlikely event of Armenia’s Constitutional Court refusing to validate the possible peace treaty.
Last month, Pashinian reportedly proposed to Aliyev that their foreign ministers hold two-day intensive talks to iron out their remaining differences and sign the peace treaty before the COP29 climate summit that began in Baku on Monday. No such talks took place. A senior Armenian diplomat admitted on Monday that the two sides still disagree on some provisions of the would-be treaty after exchanging fresh peace proposals last week.
Aliyev’s top foreign policy aide, Hikmet Hajiyev, told the Russian TASS news agency on Wednesday that Baku and Yerevan will likely resume their discussions of the sticking points next month.