Azerbaijan has made clear that it will not sing a peace deal with Armenia unless Yerevan removes a constitutional reference to a 1990 declaration of independence which in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The only legal way to do that is to enact an entirely new constitution through a referendum.
Speaking to journalists, Serdar Kilic, the Turkish envoy in normalization talks with Armenia, was asked whether Turkey too has demanded such changes to the Armenian constitution.
“Nikol Pashinian has also made a statement regarding a change of the constitution. In this context, Armenia will make the necessary amendments to its constitution,” Kilic replied, according to the Azerbaijani APA news agency.
The diplomat told Civilnet.am later in the day that this is a “domestic issue in Armenia.” “The Armenian people and Armenian institutions are going to decide how and when they are going to conduct that amendment process,” he said during an annual international security forum held in the Turkish city of Antalya.
The 1990 declaration referenced in the preamble to the current Armenian constitution also calls for international recognition of the 1915 genocide of Armenians “in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.” Pashinian has repeatedly criticized the declaration since announcing just over a year ago plans to try to enact a new constitution.
His domestic critics say that he wants to do that to make yet another concession to Baku. They have vowed to scuttle the adoption of such a constitution.
The Antalya forum is also attended by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and other Armenian officials. The Armenian Foreign Ministry announced that Mirzoyan and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will hold talks there on Saturday.
Mirzoyan will also speak during a panel discussion with the Azerbaijani and Georgian foreign ministers.