Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said Thursday that both countries have agreed to a peace agreement set to end nearly four decades of conflict between the two post-Soviet countries. <\/p>\n
The neighboring countries have been engaged in a decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region in the Caucasus Mountains that was home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians. The region is internationally considered part of Azerbaijan but for decades was under the control of Armenian separatists. <\/p>\n
The breakthrough in the two nations\u2019 protracted peace process came on Thursday, with Armenia\u2019s foreign ministry saying in a statement that the Peace Agreement is \u201cready for signing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Armenia accepted Azerbaijan\u2019s proposals on \u201cthe two unresolved articles\u201d of the draft agreement, the Armenian foreign ministry statement detailed. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the two articles concerns the issue of not deploying forces from third countries along the border. The other concerns the mutual withdrawal of claims from international instances and the commitment not to take actions against each other,\u201d Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said to journalists Thursday, according to Armenia\u2019s state news agency Armenpress. <\/p>\n
Azerbaijan confirmed the success of the peace talks. \u201cWe note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded,\u201d Azerbaijan\u2019s foreign ministry said in a statement. <\/p>\n
However, hurdles remain. Azerbaijan also said Armenia\u2019s constitution must \u201celiminate the claims against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,\u201d as a prerequisite to allow for the signing of the peace treaty. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready to continue the bilateral dialogue on these and other issues related to the normalization process between the two countries,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n
Armenia\u2019s leader said Thursday there had been \u201cno discussions\u201d regarding Baku\u2019s demand that Armenia amend its constitution, Armenpress reported. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the Constitutional Court\u2019s decision last year, it is clear that the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia does not contain territorial claims against Azerbaijan or any other country. Secondly, we believe that Azerbaijan\u2019s Constitution includes claims toward the Republic of Armenia,\u201d Pashinyan said, according to Armenpress. <\/p>\n
The Armenian leader stressed that the agreed text of the draft peace agreement \u201caddresses and resolves all these concerns,\u201d Armenpress reported. <\/p>\n
While Armenia\u2019s statement did not reference its constitution, last month Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for a \u201cnational referendum\u201d to adopt a new constitution without setting a date for the vote or specifying what changes would be contained in a new draft, Reuters reported. <\/p>\n
Armenia and Azerbaijan had already fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and ceasefire agreements between them had proven brittle. The conflict flared again in September 2023, when a lightning 24-hour assault saw Azerbaijan regain total control of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting the region\u2019s ethnic Armenian population to flee to Armenia within a week. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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