Azerbaijan.US
References to the historic Kars and Moscow treaties are set to be removed from the preamble of the Constitution of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, prompting debate over whether the region’s legal status could be affected.
Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijani exclave bordering Turkey, Iran, and Armenia and lacking direct land connection to mainland Azerbaijan, obtained its autonomous status through early 20th-century agreements. The 1921 Kars Treaty confirmed the territory as an autonomous entity under Azerbaijan’s protection and established Turkey as a guarantor of that arrangement.
The current constitutional revision, however, does not alter Nakhchivan’s political or territorial standing. Instead, the legal basis of autonomy will rest explicitly on Azerbaijan’s 1991 Act of State Independence and the 1995 Constitution, signaling a transition from historical treaty references to contemporary sovereign law.
Experts emphasize that removing treaty language from the preamble does not invalidate the underlying international agreements or Turkey’s guarantor role. Rather, the change reflects evolving geopolitical realities and reinforces the primacy of Azerbaijan’s national constitutional framework.
Analysts also note that Nakhchivan’s governance, security structure, and political administration have long functioned as integral components of the Azerbaijani state. In practice, the constitutional adjustment formalizes an already established reality rather than creating a new one.
The revision therefore appears primarily legal and symbolic, marking a new phase in state consolidation where modern constitutional authority supersedes historical diplomatic formulations—without changing the region’s autonomy or international status.
