Constitutional issue specific Azerbaijani-Turkish dictate stemming  from Armenian government`s political interests - Arman Tatoyan 

ArmInfo.With the agenda of constitutional changes, the Armenian government questions the legitimacy of Armenia. This statement was made by the ex- Ombudsman of Armenia, head of the Tatoyan Foundation, Arman Tatoyan, reacting to yesterday's interview with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, who again pointed out the need for constitutional reforms in the country and the threats of the President of Azerbaijan.

"The President of Azerbaijan first spoke about the need to change the  Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, and even in the language of  threats, on April 13, 2021.

The constitutional issue is a specific Azerbaijani-Turkish dictate,  which, unfortunately, also stems from the political interests of the  RA government.

Today, the President of Azerbaijan simply repeated this and  threatened to change not only the Constitution of the Republic of  Armenia, but also laws, government regulations and all other legal  acts (by the way, this is also not news). In other words, the  Constitution will be followed by the laws of the Republic of Armenia,  the army, the economy, etc.," Tatoyan noted.

In this regard, according to Tatoyan, his Foundation has studied the  socio-political field of Azerbaijan and there are the same theses and  justifications with which the RA government puts forward the question  of the need for a new Constitution.

"Today (February 1 - ed.) the President of Azerbaijan personally  praised this discussion of the RA government.

With this agenda, the Armenian government questions the legitimacy of  Armenia. Our state is becoming a hostage to the Azerbaijani  government.

This is absolutely beneficial to Azerbaijan in the sense that it  diverts attention from its crimes in Artsakh and legitimizes them,"  the human rights activist added.

At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that today it is  vitally important for Azerbaijan to remove from the agenda by all  possible means such topics as the mass forced resettlement of Artsakh  Armenians in September 2023, their return, mass crimes of Azerbaijan  in different periods, occupation of Armenian territories and other  topics. Not to mention the fact that in parallel, Azerbaijan's plans  to eradicate the Armenian cultural heritage, deepen hostility and  annexation of Armenia are deepening.

"Instead of focusing on issues that are vital for us (from  responsibility for Azerbaijani crimes to the ethnic cleansing of  Artsakh and the elimination of the Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia),  the Azerbaijani dictatorship is being promoted," Tatoyan concluded.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, in an interview with  Public Radio on February 1, explained the need to adopt a new  Constitution. The Prime Minister recalled that recently he has been  talking a lot about the relationship between the concepts of  "Motherland and State" and the need to strengthen state institutions.  According to him, in general, in 2018, the popular, non-violent,  velvet revolution also concerned the relationship between citizens  and the state, the civil state is de jure, de facto social and labor  relations.

"We have a gap between the citizen and the state, which is expressed  in legitimacy, because the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia,  adopted in 1995, and changed several times, has never been adopted in  such conditions and circumstances for a citizen of the Republic of  Armenia to say to himself:  go, voted and adopted the Constitution,"  the Prime Minister said, emphasizing that "a non-state people turns  into a state people" precisely at the moment of a constitutional  referendum, when a person votes voluntarily, without coercion,  without falsification and without manipulation.

According to the Prime Minister, it is not so important what is  written in the Constitution, but how organic it is for the people.  The text of the basic law is, in fact, specialized and determines  political guidelines. The need to adopt a new Constitution is due to  a genetic connection designed to fill the gap between the people and  the state. The new Constitution is also intended to legitimize the  relationship between the state and the people, since legitimacy is  very important in all respects. Let us also add that against the  backdrop of public criticism that rained down after these statements  by the prime minister and yesterday's threats by Aliyev on the issue  of the Constitution of Armenia, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Prime  Minister Taron Chakhoyan hastened to shift responsibility for the  idea of changing the Constitution to the RA opposition.

According to him, it was at the instigation of the Armenian  opposition that the President of Azerbaijan began to speculate on  these issues. Let us recall that on January 19, at the Ministry of  Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Pashinyan said that Armenia needs  a new Constitution that will make the Republic of Armenia more viable  in the new geopolitical conditions.

The prime minister's counterparts stated that the initiative comes  from Baku, mainly with the goal of eliminating from the Constitution  references to the Declaration of Independence, which contains  reference to the resolution on the reunification of the Armenian SSR  and Nagorno-Karabakh. The 11th paragraph of the Declaration of  Independence, which states that the Republic of Armenia supports  international recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman  Turkey, is also considered problematic.