By Arshaluys Barseghyan and Aytan Farhadova
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has stated that it will be “simply impossible” to reach a peace deal if the Armenian constitution “remains unchanged.”
Aliyev stated on June 6 that the Armenian constitution’s basis, the Declaration of Independence, “contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan.”
Armenia’s Declaration of Independence, signed in August 1990, includes a joint decision by the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Karabakh Council to “reunify the Armenian SSR and the Mountainous Region of Karabakh.”
“From a young age, Azerbaijanis and Turks have been portrayed as enemies in their society. It is their society that has been poisoned by nationalists and war criminals,” said Aliyev, who previously stated that he expected guarantees from Yerevan against “Armenian revanchism.”
In response, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry stated that Yerevan does not have any territorial claims towards Azerbaijan or any of its neighbors, and stressed that amendments to the constitution are Armenia’s internal affairs.