Armen Grigoryan`s statement on Azerbaijani territory is a political ploy

In the Armenian expert community, the words of Armen Grigoryan, the Secretary of the Security Council, on the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan are given out as evidence of the peaceful intentions of Armenia. Azerbaijan, according to the Armenian politicians and the Foreign Ministry, is presented as an unconstructive side of the negotiations. In Baku, Yerevan is accused of delaying the signing of a comprehensive peace treaty with Azerbaijan. Baku insists on including in this document a clause recognizing the territory of Karabakh as the sovereign property of Azerbaijan, while Yerevan hints that there is no need for such clarification.

In an interview for "Armenpress" Armen Grigoryan stated: “We have repeatedly said that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized the territorial integrity and inviolability of each other's borders by the Treaty on the Formation of the CIS, signed and subsequently ratified in 1991. And today this document is part of the legislation of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. This needs to be expressed on a bilateral level as well. In such a perspective, there is nothing unacceptable for us, and Armenia, yes, has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan,” Grigoryan said.

His statement is based on the well-known words of Prime Minister N. Pashinyan, who said that "de jure, Armenia recognized the territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of Azerbaijan by ratifying the Agreement on the Formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States back in 1992, and this recognition is still part of our domestic legislation today" .

Baku did not express optimism upon learning of Armen Grigoryan's statement. The fact is that the phrase about the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has been heard in Yerevan not for the first time.

In 2006, then-President Serzh Sargsyan put it this way:

- "Armenia has never stated that it does not recognize the territorial integrity of any country. We recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, but at the same time we recognize the territorial integrity of Nagorno-Karabakh, since the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic were created in parallel, on the basis of laws in force in the Soviet Union.

Sargsyan relied on the Declaration of Independence of Armenia adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR on August 23, 1990. The declaration is based on the joint decision of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh of December 1, 1989 "On the reunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh".

“The Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR, expressing the united will of the people of Armenia, realizing its responsibility to the fate of the Armenian people, in fulfilling the wishes of all Armenians, in restoring historical justice, based on the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the well-known norms of international law, exercising the rights of nations, based on joint decision of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh "On the reunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh" of December 1, 1989, developing the democratic traditions of the independent Republic of Armenia, established on May 28, 1918, setting the task of creating a democratic, legal society, "proclaims the beginning the process of establishing independent statehood,” says the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Armenia.

About a year after the adoption of the Declaration, on September 21, 1991, a referendum on independence was held in Armenia, as a result of which the Third Republic of Armenia was formed.

This fundamental document for the Armenian statehood has not been canceled, it continues to have legal (for Armenia) force, therefore the new statements of Pashinyan and Grigoryan, which specifically and deliberately do not specify the Azerbaijani belonging of the entire Karabakh, look like a political ploy for world politicians far from the Caucasian realities.

Baku understands this and insists on the signing the Azerbaijani-Armenian Peace Treaty, which should mention  that Karabakh  is part of Azerbaijan. Only in this case, the anti-Azerbaijani legislative acts of Armenia will lose their legal force, being canceled by a new international document ratified in the National Assembly of Armenia.