(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Remarks by the Armenian MFA Spokesperson about the peace-loving
stance of Armenia, which is equipping with offensive weaponry by
all means and continuing its territorial claims against Azerbaijan
in its constitution and other legal acts, is a pure manipulation
that aims at misleading the international community,
Azernews reports, citing Aykhan Hajizada,
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as he stated
regarding the opinion expressed by Spokesperson of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry about Armenia's justification for its
militarization and alleged threats from Azerbaijan.
Interestingly, now the Armenian MFA Spokesperson refers to the
recent decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia on
compliance of the regulations governing the joint activities of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani border delimitation commissions with the
Armenian constitution as a“confirmation” that their constitution
“does not contain territorial claims against its neighbors.”
Fact-checking this claim is enough to recall how the Armenian
side has justified its constitutional court ruling about the
conformity of Protocols for the normalization of their relations
with Türkiye with its constitution back in January 2010, when a
detailed statement elaborating the grounds of its decision did not
renounce the claims to so-called“Western Armenia.”
The same logic and approach were applied during the adoption of
the court's decision on the conformity of the regulation of the
border commissions between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the Armenian
constitution on 26 September 2024. Although the court ruling has
enumerated the regions that currently belong to Armenia, it also
emphasized the importance of the preamble as an inalienable part of
the constitution, where there is a reference to the Declaration of
Independence of Armenia with its claim to the territories of
Azerbaijan. Especially, in the court ruling, the preamble and
indirectly the Declaration of Independence were characterized as
“basic principles of Armenian statehood” and it was noted that they
are immutable (unchangeable) provisions, which further increases
the threat emanating from Armenian claims against the territories
of Azerbaijan.
Regarding the Almaty Declaration question, it is well-known that
the provisions regarding respect for territorial integrity and the
inviolability of borders, as stipulated in the 8 December 1991
Agreement on the Creation of the CIS and the 21 December 1991
Almaty Declaration, do not pertain to the issue of what the actual
borders are between the CIS member states or which territories are
included within each state. Thus, the Almaty declaration cannot be
considered a confirmation of the“good intentions” of Armenia.
It could not be denied that Armenia ratified the CIS founding
agreement on 18 February 1992 with reservations. Moreover, Armenia
officially announced its intention to make reservations as early as
26 December 1991, when the Supreme Council of Armenia ratified the
Protocol to the CIS founding agreement. Clause 10 of the Supreme
Council's decision of 18 February 1992 on the ratification of the
CIS founding agreement clearly indicates that the Republic of
Armenia considered the so-called“Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh to
be an independent state with the right to join the CIS.”
Following this decision by the Supreme Council, Armenia has
never recognized“Nagorno-Karabakh” as part of Azerbaijan, a stance
that was reaffirmed in the Decision of the Supreme Council of 8
July 1992, and further solidified in the Constitution of Armenia of
5 July 1995. Without judgement, whether it was necessary to submit
the reservation to the attention of other contracting parties or
not, and whether Armenia acted as such or not, the reservations is
part of Armenia's legislation that could not be denied.
Accordingly, also considering the already existing claim in the
constitution of Armenia against the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan upon joining the Almaty Declaration and its
reservations, Armenia excluded the recognition of
“Nagorno-Karabakh” as part of Azerbaijan. Therefore, statements
that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty
of Azerbaijan have no legal ground until Armenia makes changes to
its constitution and renounces all the legal and political acts
that reflect its claim to Azerbaijan.
Also, taking into account the history when Armenia has conducted
aggression against Azerbaijan while joining the Almaty Declaration,
it is time to ask for clarification on what is meant by the
“recognition of each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty
along the administrative borders of the former Soviet republics”
for Armenia back in 1992 and now?
Against this background and due to the unpredictable nature of
Armenian policy, the arguments about the rights of self-defense as
a justification for mass militarization are both fictitious and
dangerous.
Moreover, Armenian MFA's false propaganda asking to refrain from
visiting Azerbaijan for COP29 claiming that Azerbaijan is using the
COP29 as a“smokescreen” for alleged preparation for an attack
against Armenia is regrettable.
The logic of the Armenian side that these problems can be
ignored demonstrates that this country is not interested in
sustainable peace and is only trying to keep this situation as a
backup option to start aggression against Azerbaijan once again in
the future.
Armenia should refrain from contradictory statements and
provocative steps, and show that it respects the norms and
principles of international law with its actions and real
steps.
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