Azerbaijan says territorial claims in Armenia’s constitution ‘main obstacle’ in signing peace deal

Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that the territorial claims made in Armenia's constitution are the "main obstacle" in the completion of the peace agreement between the two countries.

"Currently, the main obstacle to the completion of the peace treaty is the territorial claims against our countries (Azerbaijan and Türkiye) in the Armenian constitution," Jeyhun Bayramov said at a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in the capital Ankara.

Bayramov said that despite the positive dynamics in negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, including an agreement on a "significant part" of the draft peace agreement, territorial claims still exist against Baku in Armenia's constitution and a number of other legal documents.

"At the same time, it is no secret that Armenia has territorial claims against the Republic of Türkiye," Bayramov said, describing Yerevan's rapid armament a "disturbing trend."

He also said that there are a number of third countries that are driving Armenia to rapidly arm itself, which he said is a "very wrong policy" and a policy that "can and should be considered as an additional source of threat for the region."

"We are monitoring all these processes. All work related to these developments is being implemented in a coordinated manner between Azerbaijan and Türkiye ... Azerbaijan and Türkiye have the same stance. This is mutual support, strategic partnership and alliance relations. And it will continue like this," Bayramov went on to say.

BILATERAL TIES

Commenting on bilateral relations with Türkiye, Bayramov said the turnover of bilateral trade last year totaled $8 billion.

He noted that Azerbaijan's investments in the Turkish economy had also increased by $20 billion, adding that these trends continued into the most recent period this year.

Bayramov also emphasized the importance of cooperation between Baku and Ankara in the field of energy, saying that this cooperation produced results not only on the bilateral level, but also "changed the energy map of Eurasia."

He also said the construction of the Iğdır-Nakhchivan natural gas pipeline would soon be complete, providing additional opportunities to both countries.

Iğdır-Nakhchivan is a new 85-kilometer (53-mile) gas pipeline that will run from eastern Türkiye to Sederek in western Azerbaijan, with an annual capacity of 500 million cubic meters.

The construction of the pipeline began in September 2023.

Bayramov went on to say that the annual capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line had increased from 1 million to 5 million tons, adding that this was expected this to provide transportation benefits.