There will be no peace treaty until Armenia changes the Constitution – Ilham Aliyev

Until the Constitution of Armenia is amended to eliminate territorial claims to Azerbaijan, no peace treaty will be signed with it, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated on July1, accepting the credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Kevin Hamilton.

"The main condition of the peace agreement is to change the Constitution of Armenia. Because it contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan. And until this happens (constitutional changes), the peace treaty will not be signed," Aliyev said. Aliyev pointed to "fairly accelerated progress in the peace talks."

"In my opinion, we can complete work on the text of the peace treaties, at least on the basic principles, within a few months," Aliyev said.

In his opinion, agreements on the basic principles can first be reached, their initialing and further work on the text of the agreement. However, he reiterated that "this is possible if the Constitution of Armenia is changed."

Regarding the ambassador's comment on the "right of return," Aliyev said that this right should be ensured on the basis of the principles of reciprocity, and in particular extended to representatives of the community of Western Azerbaijan.

In this context, he recalled that the Azerbaijani population in various periods, and most recently in 1988, was subjected to ethnic cleansing in the territory of modern Armenia.