Armenia plans constitutional amendments, but not to please Azerbaijan  - Vahagn Khachaturyan 

ArmInfo. Armenia plans to change the country's Constitution, but not to please Azerbaijan, but because it is "tailored" for one person. This was stated by Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan in an interview with RTVI.

The Armenian President recalled that the current Armenian authorities  declared their intention to change the Constitution immediately after  2018, after coming to power on the wave of the velvet revolution,  however, certain events did not allow this to happen.

"This is not related to the peace treaty, without it - we simply  needed to change the Constitution, because according to the  Constitution under which we are now working, there... In principle,  this Constitution was created, in theory, for one person - the Prime  Minister, who was supposed to be the Prime Minister," Khachaturyan  said.

According to him, the war in the fall of 2020 around Artsakh, then  the events that took place, including the early elections of 2021,  did not allow this to happen.

He once again emphasized that this does not in any way concern the  demand of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to change the country's  Constitution. "The fact that the current Constitution, which is now  in place, does not prevent the signing of a peace treaty - this is  simply the conclusion the Constitutional Court made when we turned to  it last year during the delimitation to what extent this complies.  They said that, indeed, all this activity and delimitation actually  comply with the Constitution," Khachaturyan repeated, assuring that  the authorities will change the Constitution based on the logic he  mentioned above.

At the same time, the president noted that the referendum on the new  Constitution will most likely take place after the parliamentary  elections scheduled in Armenia for June 2026.

Touching upon the prospects of signing a peace treaty with  Azerbaijan, Khachaturyan stated that Armenia will make sure that  everyone is convinced that its Constitution does not actually prevent  the signing of a peace treaty.

Speaking about the agreements reached in Washington on Armenia  providing a road to Azerbaijan through the Syunik region and the  symbolically named Trump route (TRIPP), Khachaturyan assured that the  most important achievement in Washington is that Azerbaijan and  Armenia agreed to live peacefully. "And especially at such a high  level: the two leaders of the two countries said that we are really  ready and will do everything to simply start living peacefully," the  head of Armenia said.

When asked whether he believes that Aliyev will not violate the  territorial integrity of Armenia, Khachaturyan gave an affirmative  answer, noting that this document specifically contains the basic  principles of the settlement and the basic principles of the work of  the TRIPP road: territorial integrity, second - independence, third -  jurisdiction, fourth - reciprocity, fifth - sovereignty.

Khachaturyan also assured that the road will be controlled by  Armenians, there will be no Americans or anyone else. When asked  whether the issue of the return of Artsakh residents to their homes  was discussed during the negotiations, Khachaturyan noted that he  cannot now talk about those specific points, about those issues that  the parties discussed and agreed on.

When asked whether this means that the Karabakh issue is closed and  the people who have lived there for centuries will not be able to  return to their historical lands, the President of Armenia suggested  that such a possibility may still exist.

"I think that this is how it should be later. If we live in peaceful  conditions, if we communicate, i.e. our borders are open and we  restore trust between us, then we can actually talk about all the  issues that exist between us, discuss them, find a solution," the  head of Armenia said.

Speaking about the fate of the Armenian hostages held in Azerbaijan,  including the former leaders of Artsakh, Khachaturyan assured that  this issue is always on the agenda of negotiations with Baku.

"Three years ago... It was 2022, yes... COP 28... 2022, I think...  The same thing - we discussed the issue, they also criticized us:  "Why are you...? So many hostages..." I was also present at very  different meetings, when the relatives of the hostages came to us,  met with us and raised this issue. And somehow we resolved the issue,  came to an agreement with the Azerbaijanis, with the Azerbaijani  side, and they released our hostages, found some kind of solution,"  Khachaturyan concluded.