Turkish reporter asks Armenia`s premier about `return of Azerbaijani refugees`

ArmInfo. Armenia's Premier Nikol  Pashinyan, in an interview with Turkish media outlets, commented on  Azerbaijan demand for the 'return of Azerbaijani refugees.'

"There is a very important addition to your question. Azerbaijan  actually raises an issue that it calls "western Azerbaijan". And  Azerbaijan calls "western Azerbaijan" approximately 60-70% of the  sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and invites us to  discuss the issue of "western Azerbaijan", while calling 60-70% of  the territory of the Republic of Armenia "western Azerbaijan". We say  that there is no "western Azerbaijan" in Armenia. If we want to look  for western Azerbaijan, or see western Azerbaijan, then western  Azerbaijan is the Kazakh, Aghstafa, Getabey, Kelbajar, Lachin,  Zangelan, Kubatlu regions of Azerbaijan, if I forgot to name some of  the regions, it does not mean a deliberate omission, but I mean, we  can look at the map and say where western Azerbaijan is. Here is  western Azerbaijan. There is no western Azerbaijan on this side of  this line. In case of great desire, Nakhchivan can also be considered  western Azerbaijan in geographical terms.

"I mean, they are trying to place this under the logic of  humanitarian issues, calling on us to discuss some issue, but I say  again, they call 60% of the sovereign territory of our country  "western Azerbaijan". And therefore, such an issue is not something  to be discussed by us, it cannot be discussed by any country.

"And in general, if we are talking about the topic of refugees, I  have already mentioned, we even have a document about the return of  refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions. In Armenia and the  Diaspora, there are refugees from Nakhichevan, Baku, Sumgait, the  adjacent regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ganja, etc. Our perception is  that these are simply territorial claims against Armenia, and  therefore we cannot discuss this issue.

"The so-called "Zangezur corridor" is also unacceptable for us for  this very reason, because it contains a territorial claim against the  Republic of Armenia. If we are talking about transport communication  and economic communication, we are open and say yes, we are ready, as  I have already said, to unblock regional, transport and economic ties  under the conditions of the sovereignty, territorial integrity,  jurisdiction and reciprocity of the countries. And understanding that  there are complications, we even say that we are ready for certain  simplifications so that this becomes a reality, and we have made a  specific proposal for the restoration of the railway connection and  are waiting for Azerbaijan's response. Moreover, we are not  publishing the essence of this proposal for the simple reason to rule  out a violation of diplomatic ethics, since it would mean revealing  the essence of a working document, but in our assessment we have  resolved this issue and expect a similar solution for ourselves.

"Today I say that we have proposed a solution that will solve the  issue of railway freight transportation from western Azerbaijan to  Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia. All that remains is for  Azerbaijan to agree to this solution. Moreover, since 2022, if I am  not mistaken, the Government has been circulating a draft Government  decision on the opening of three checkpoints on the border with  Azerbaijan.  In other words, the draft is about opening checkpoints  at specific border points so that Azerbaijani vehicles, cargo, and  citizens can travel through the territory of the Republic of Armenia,  including to Nakhichevan.  And this is how we see the issue.

"Azerbaijan contradicts itself. In what way? Azerbaijan contradicts  itself by the fact that they officially call 2021 and the following  period a post-conflict period. But they speak the language of  conflict every day. In other words, these two narratives of  Azerbaijan do not match each other. Every day the language of  conflict, every day aggressive rhetoric, every day force, if not  every day, very often, very often the threat of force and the use of  force, and the narrative of "western Azerbaijan" that calls into  question the very existence of Armenia, let's be honest, the very  existence of the state of Armenia. And in parallel, an invitation to  discuss, sorry, in my opinion, that is at least strange.

"By the way, and it is perhaps within the framework of that peace  formula that on the one hand I say that starting from this line,  western Azerbaijan is here, but there is no "western Azerbaijan" on  this side of this line, but I understand that this conversation would  be incomplete if I did not say that western Armenia is also here.  This is essentially two sentences, but this is our perception of  peace and our idea, because if these formulas do not exist, moreover,  I say again, there may be all sorts of different perceptions of  history, historical events, etc., but if we want to build peace, it  is impossible to build anything on a flowing region.

"By the way, there is something very important. Let us not forget  that the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan already  have the first mutually ratified international document, which is the  regulations of the delimitation commissions of our countries, which  was signed by the commissions of our countries and ratified according  to the domestic procedures of our countries, where it is recorded  that the basis, the basic principle of delimitation is the Alma-Ata  Declaration. 

"The Alma-Ata Declaration, which was signed in 1991, makes two  references in the context of our issue, the first is that the Soviet  Union ceases to exist, and the administrative borders of the  countries of the Soviet Union become state borders. And therefore,  this narrative already contradicts the de jure document existing  between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it directly contradicts it. We are  committed to that agreement and are consistently and patiently moving  towards peace," Mr Pashinyan said. 

RA Premier Nikol Pashinyan's interview with Turkish media outlets is  available here 

https://www.primeminister.am/en/interviews-and-press-conferences/item/2025/03/13/Nikol-Pashinyan- Interview/