“The deep-rooted hatred of the Azerbaijani people in Armenian society, dreams of a ‘greater Armenia,’ territorial claims to Azerbaijan still enshrined in the Armenian constitution, and the rapid arming of this country hinder the establishment of a lasting peace,” Aliyev said, addressing a conference in Baku sponsored by his administration.
The official purpose of the forum was to discuss “mechanisms for the return of Azerbaijanis to their historical homeland” which Baku says covers much of modern-day Armenia. Aliyev regularly describes it as “Western Azerbaijan.”
In his address, Aliyev said that Yerevan must begin negotiations with “the community of Western Azerbaijan” on its members’ “dignified return to their ancestral lands.” He said nothing about the right of return of Nagorno-Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population that fled region following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive. Nor did he mention a draft peace treaty discussed by Baku and Yerevan.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament on Wednesday, Pashinian expressed hope that the treaty will be signed soon despite Baku’s preconditions.
“In essence, 90 percent of the work has been done, and all that remains is to make the final effort and sign the peace treaty,” he said.
In order to facilitate its signing, Pashinian went on, the Armenian side has proposed a “very realistic solution” to the thorny issue of transport links between the two countries and, in particular, an Armenian transit route for Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave.
Aliyev has repeatedly made the signing of the peace treaty conditional of a change of Armenia’s constitution. He has also voiced other demands, including the one related to “Western Azerbaijan.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in October that Aliyev’s talk of “Western Azerbaijan” amounts to territorial claims and may be a prelude to another assault on Armenia. Other officials in Yerevan have also claimed that Baku may be planning to launch the military aggression after hosting the COP29 climate summit in November.
Late last month, Pashinian was accused by his domestic critics of legitimizing Aliyev’s “Western Azerbaijan” narrative after drawing parallels between it and Armenians’ common reference to parts of moder-day eastern Turkey populated by their ancestors until the 1915 genocide as “Western Armenia.”
Those areas had for centuries accounted for most of the territory of ancient Armenian kingdoms before being incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. Their indigenous population was forcibly deported and/or massacred by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War.
Pashinian’s critics maintain that his broader appeasement policy is only encouraging Aliyev to demand more Armenian concessions and will not bring real peace.