By Ani Avetisyan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced that Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on the key principles of a bilateral peace treaty, as the country's opposition takes to the streets to demand a halt to the border demarcation process with Azerbaijan.
'The key principles are agreed upon; we just need to reproduce that in the text of the peace treaty,' Pashinyan told journalists on May 29. 'I think we have a chance to finish this job soon.'
This announcement contrasts with recent statements from Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, who has highlighted Baku's reluctance to recognise Armenia's borders explicitly. Yerevan insists on upholding the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, where Armenia, Azerbaijan and other former Soviet republics pledged to recognise each other's Soviet-era borders.
Despite these challenges, Pashinyan indicated that a reference to the Alma-Ata Declaration is already included in the agreed parts of the treaty. He mentioned ongoing 'working issues' in finalising the text but did not elaborate further.
The peace talks between Mirzoyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Kazakhstan earlier this month were described as productive, though differences remain. Another major hurdle, according to Mirzoyan, is Baku's demand for an extraterritorial corridor through Armenia’s Syunik province to Azerbaijan's Nakhichevan exclave.
Additionally, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has demanded changes to Armenia's constitution as a 'precondition' for signing the treaty. These demands have been contentious and have sparked debates within Armenia, with the country’s government, already initiating the process of constitutional changes.
Elchin Amirbekov, the Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan, suggested that the upcoming COP-29 Climate Conference in Baku in November could be an opportunity to sign the peace agreement. Pashinyan responded that the timing and venue for the signing could be discussed once the treaty text is finalised. If Pashinyan visited Azerbaijan, it would be a landmark visit for an Armenian leader.
As part of the efforts to normalise relations, Armenia recently returned four border villages to Azerbaijan. This move has been seen as crucial for progress in peace talks but has also triggered protests within Armenia. Opponents of the move, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, accuse Pashinyan of ceding territory without sufficient guarantees in return.
