Aliyev reiterated that Armenia should change its constitution and agree to the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Unfortunately, the Armenian side is still unwilling to accept these two conditions,” he was reported to say during a visit to Hungary. “However, the events and the course of processes in recent years show that sooner or later they will have to agree to our proposal.”
Pashinian has repeatedly said that Yerevan is ready to ask the OSCE to disband the Minsk Group right after the signing of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal. He has also denied Baku’s claims that the Armenian constitution contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan.
Even so, Pashinian has pledged to try to enact a new constitution through a referendum expected in 2026. Moreover, he stated in April that the new constitution must carry no reference to a 1990 declaration of independence which in turn cites a 1989 unification act adopted by the legislative bodies of Soviet Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The declaration is referenced in a preamble to Armenia’s current constitution. Azerbaijan says that this amounts to a claim to Karabakh recaptured by Baku in 2023.
Aliyev and Pashinian spoke at length last Friday on the sidelines of a European Political Community summit held in Albania’s capital Tirana. The Armenian government said vaguely that they “emphasized the importance of continuing the process towards signing” the peace treaty. Aliyev’s office issued no statement on the conversation.
Pashinian’s domestic critics say his appeasement policy only encourages Aliyev to demand more concessions from Yerevan. The demands also include the opening of a land corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave which would pass through a key Armenian region.