Mikhail Gusman: Preserving Constitution of Armenia in its current form to become time bomb under peace treaty between Baku, Yerevan

A peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan cannot be concluded as long as the Armenian constitution retains provisions containing territorial claims against Azerbaijan, Mikhail Gusman, First Deputy Director General of TASS, told journalists on the sidelines of the Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Report informs.

According to him, the completion of negotiations on the text of a peace agreement between the countries is, "certainly, a positive step", but it would be premature to perceive it as the end of the peace process.

"On the one hand, we should be glad that the text of the agreement has been agreed upon. From the outside, it may seem that all that remains is to sign the document. However, as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev emphasized while recently speaking at a forum at ADA University, there are still important points that are of fundamental importance. In particular, everyone knows that a number of Armenian documents, including the Constitution, still contain provisions that essentially reflect territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is impossible to sign a peace treaty in conditions where the basic law of another country contains such wording," Gusman emphasized.

He added that if these provisions are preserved in the Constitution of Armenia, signing the agreement could result in serious risks in the future:

"If the issue with the Constitution of Armenia is not resolved (making appropriate amendments to it to eliminate territorial claims against Azerbaijan), it will be like planting a time bomb under such an important document (the peace treaty)."

On March 13, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry announced the completion of negotiations with Armenia to agree on the text of a peace treaty consisting of 17 articles.