By Azerbaijan.US Editorial Board
Armenia is once again playing for time. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan insists that constitutional changes can wait until after a peace treaty with Azerbaijan is signed — if Armenia’s Constitutional Court demands it. For Baku, that is nothing more than political sleight of hand.
Political analyst Ishkhan Verdyan, speaking on Del Europe Online, was blunt: “How would Yerevan react if Azerbaijan’s constitution declared Zangezur part of Azerbaijan and then proposed a peace treaty? Would that be acceptable? Of course not.” His point exposes the double standard in Armenia’s position.
The reality is simple. Armenia’s constitution still references its 1990 Declaration of Independence, a document laced with territorial claims against Azerbaijan and Turkey. A peace treaty built on mutual recognition of sovereignty cannot coexist with such a clause. Baku’s demand is not an “ultimatum,” but a prerequisite for a genuine settlement.
Pashinyan, however, frames constitutional change as “politically inconvenient.” He fears domestic backlash if voters perceive him as acting “under pressure” from Azerbaijan. But that excuse reveals the problem: Yerevan is more concerned with saving face than building peace.
Verdyan notes that in Armenia’s political imagination, Aliyev is portrayed as a villain plotting daily against Yerevan. This caricature blinds Armenia’s elite to the fact that the peace process itself is Baku’s initiative, anchored in Aliyev’s five principles of sovereignty, non-aggression, and mutual recognition.
If Pashinyan truly wants a future free of conflict, he must stop treating constitutional reform as a bargaining chip. History shows that unresolved legal contradictions are not “symbolic” — they are seeds of future wars. Armenia can no longer hide behind outdated texts while speaking of peace.
This editorial reflects the position of the Azerbaijan.US Editorial Board, which supports Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and security, while advocating for democratic governance at home.
