Pashinyan knows how to alleviate Baku`s fears

ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan presents his solution for addressing Azerbaijan's concerns  regarding territorial claims of the Republic of Armenia against the  Republic of Azerbaijan, allegedly outlined in the Constitution of  Armenia.

The Prime Minister shared it during a session in parliament  on September 11, as part of the government's allotted time.  In  particular, when analyzing the events of the recent period, the Prime  Minister considers it important to find an answer to the following  question: <Does Azerbaijan want our Constitution to contain  territorial claims against them? Or do they have sincere concerns,  what is it?>.  The first, according to him, is <another case>, but if  we are talking about the second scenario, then, he reminds,  international treaties that contradict the Constitution cannot be  ratified.

<Let's imagine that we have signed a peace document, which, let's  say, states that Armenia and Azerbaijan have no territorial claims  against each other, we both recognize each other's territorial  integrity and agree not to make any territorial claims against each  other in the future.  If the Constitutional Court decides that this  provision does not comply with our Constitution, it will confirm our  claims against Azerbaijan. But if the Constitutional Court deems it  compliant with our Constitution and sends the document to the  parliament for ratification, then the provision that the Republic of  Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan will have the  highest legal force>, he said.  Moreover, Pashinyan pointed out that  in cases where there is a conflict between the norms of international  treaties ratified by the Republic of Armenia and the laws of the  Republic of Armenia, the norms of the ratified international treaties  take precedence.

<That is, if the document is signed and ratified, then Azerbaijan's  concerns, if any, are dispelled. But if we are talking about  territorial claims that may arise in the future, then this may happen  regardless of the existence of a peace treaty, "the prime minister  said.  Meanwhile, Pashinyan noted that the Constitution of Azerbaijan  contains territorial claims to the territory of Armenia, but Yerevan  does not raise this issue because it believes that "the same  processes that happen to us, will also happen to them, and this issue  will be resolved." At the same time, the RA Prime Minister added,  independent experts say that Azerbaijan is leading the peace treaty  process to a dead end in order to keep open the territorial claims  against Armenia outlined in the Constitution of Azerbaijan.

Regarding the inclusion of a reference to the Declaration of  Independence of Armenia in the Constitution of Armenia, which  includes a provision for the reunification of the Republic of Armenia  and Nagorno- Karabakh, the head of the Cabinet pointed out that, as  per the law on normative legal acts, the laws of Armenia should be  interpreted and understood literally, "you cannot read one thing and  understand another, that is, what is written, is what it means."  "There are no territorial claims against Azerbaijan in the  Constitution of Armenia," the RA prime minister concluded.