Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Armenian government cannot abandon the enclave-exclave issue in talks with Azerbaijan.
Speaking at a press briefing, Pashinyan addressed the delimitation of borders and the enclave-exclave issue. He highlighted that Armenia and Azerbaijan have mutually recognized each other’s territorial integrity based on the Alma-Ata Declaration.
“There is a legally binding document stating that the Alma-Ata Declaration serves as the foundational basis for border delimitation between the two countries,” the Prime Minister said.
According to him, under the Alma-Ata Declaration, in terms of territorial size, independent Armenia is identical to Soviet Armenia, and independent Azerbaijan is identical to Soviet Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan also noted that Armenia cannot renounce the issue of enclaves-exclaves, as doing so would also constitute a renunciation of Armenia’s sovereign territory.
“Today there are issues, and we cannot abandon the topic of enclaves for one simple reason: we ourselves have an [exclave]—Artsvashen. If anyone were to renounce it, that would be grounds for criminal liability. No one can renounce Armenia’s sovereign territory,” he said.
At the same time, the Prime Minister emphasized that there is currently no agreement or strategy regarding the resolution of the enclave-exclave issue.
“There is no agreement, no concept, no strategy related to resolving this issue, but the regulation [on delimitation] define cases that can also be considered, depending on how we approach the matter,” Pashinyan said.
According to the Prime Minister, the delimitation process will also address issues related to roads, infrastructure, and communications, and any possible decisions will be open and public.
“If there are any optimizations during the delimitation process, they will be open, public, and transparent,” he said.
Pashinyan reaffirmed that, as a result of the delimitation, the territory of the Republic of Armenia will remain 29,743 square kilometers.
“This is iron logic; there can be no other logic,” the Prime Minister added.
