Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan not only is possible, but is within reach - Nikol Pashinyan

ArmInfo. As part of his  working visit to New York, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan delivered a  speech at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN  headquarters.

Below is the full speech of the Prime Minister of Armenia.

"Mr. President, 

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is my fourth speech at the UN General Assembly and this speech  will be significantly different from the previous ones. The key  messages of my previous speeches were about the deadlock in achieving  peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but today I want to say that  Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan not only is possible, but is  within reach.

Why do I think so? For a few specific reasons. Quite recently, on  August 30, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the Regulation on the Joint  Activity of the Commissions on Delimitation of the state border  between the two countries.

This is the first bilateral legal document signed between the  parties. But what is more important with that document, Armenia and  Azerbaijan agreed to set the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration as the basic  principle of border delimitation between the two countries and will  be guided by it.

This means that Armenia and Azerbaijan de jure reconfirm the  principle of recognizing each other's territorial integrity and  inviolability of borders that existed during the Soviet Union, which  is a fundamental factor for establishing peace. Now it is de jure  reconfirmed that the two countries have no territorial claims on each  other.

What we have to do now is to take the next step and sign the  Agreement on Establishment of Peace and Inter-State Relations between  the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The President  of Azerbaijan and I have stated many times that at least 80 percent  of the mentioned Agreement has been agreed upon.

Now, to seize this historic opportunity and to avoid the risk of  reaching a deadlock, Armenia proposes to take what has already been  agreed in the draft Agreement, sign it, have a peace Agreement  between Armenia and Azerbaijan and then go on with negotiations on  pending issues. We are ready to do this right now.

Why do we propose this? Because there is no precedent of a peace  agreement or any agreement that would regulate and solve everything.  It is practically not possible. After signing any agreement, two  countries may always need to conclude new agreements and make new  arrangements for this very reason.  No matter how comprehensive any  agreement, many important issues need to be further addressed.  

And in the case of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the agreed articles of the  draft Peace Agreement actually contain provisions on peace, on not  having territorial claims on each other and not putting forward such  claims in the future, provisions on establishing diplomatic relations  and a joint commission to oversee the implementation of the Peace  Agreement, a provision on not interfering in each other's internal  affairs, not using force and threat of force, and other important  provisions.

Signing the Peace Agreement with the already agreed articles, will  significantly facilitate the resolution of the non-agreed issues. The  already agreed parts of the draft Peace Agreement provide tools for  that: one of them is the diplomatic relations to be established  between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the second is the joint  Armenia-Azerbaijan commission to oversee the implementation of the  Peace Agreement. I mean, the existence of de jure peace between  Armenia and Azerbaijan by signing the proposed Agreement, and the  establishment of diplomatic relations, will result in changing the  overall atmosphere and the perception of our Governments and Peoples,  which will significantly facilitate the solution of the remaining  issues.  Azerbaijan, however, insists that the Constitution of the  Republic of Armenia is an obstacle to the peace Agreement, because it  allegedly contains territorial claims on Azerbaijan.

Without going into details, let me say that there is nothing of this  kind in our Constitution, there are no territorial claims on  Azerbaijan, and we can provide detailed written proofs regarding this  to all our international partners concerned.

Moreover, it is the Constitution of Azerbaijan that contains  territorial claims on the Republic of Armenia and we can present  written argumentation on this as well to all our international  partners concerned.

But pay attention: we do not consider the Constitution of Azerbaijan  as an obstacle to the Peace Agreement for the simple reason, that the  agreed part of the draft Peace Agreement contains wording that solves  the problem and that wording is as follows: "None of the Parties may  invoke the provisions of its internal legislation as justification  for its failure to perform the present Agreement".

Therefore, the signing of the Agreement will address the concerns of  both Armenia and Azerbaijan and will create legal guarantees for  addressing them fundamentally. When we examine the agreed text of the  Peace Agreement in terms of compliance with the Constitution of the  Republic of Armenia, we see the following picture: Under the  Constitution of Armenia, agreements that contradict the Constitution  may not be ratified.  And as in other cases, after signing the Peace  Agreement with Azerbaijan, we must submit it to the Constitutional  Court to verify the compliance of the Agreement with the Constitution  of the Republic of Armenia.

If our Constitutional Court decides that the Peace Agreement with  Azerbaijan is in contradiction with the Constitution of the Republic  of Armenia (even though our experts assure that it is not likely to  happen), then we will face a specific situation where constitutional  changes will be needed for the sake of achieving peace.

    And if our Constitutional Court decides that the Agreement complies  with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, then there will be  no barriers for ratification in the Parliament of Armenia, and here  an extremely important circumstance comes in.

Under Paragraph 3 of Article 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of  Armenia, ratified international agreements have precedence over the  domestic legislation of the Republic of Armenia, and therefore, after  the signing and ratification of the Peace Agreement with Azerbaijan,  theoretically, even if there were laws that could be interpreted as  containing territorial claims, these documents would be subordinate  to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Agreement and would automatically  have no legal force. The same logic would apply to Azerbaijan of  course.

Honorable President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you can see, here is peace so close to us and all we need to do,  is reach out and take it. It is not easy for either Armenia or  Azerbaijan, because each of us has our own truth and the debate over  those truths has led to enmity, casualties, and wars. The pain is  very deep and intense.  But we must now focus on peace, because peace  is the only truth understandable to the people of Armenia and  Azerbaijan. And this truth will open our eyes and shut down the  sources of enmity, and we will all look to the future.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The "Crossroads of Peace" project of the Government of the Republic  of Armenia is also dedicated to that future. The purpose of the  project is not only to open automobile routes, railroads, and other  transport communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also to  provide communication between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkiye and the  whole region, as well as to create opportunities for the passage of  pipelines and cables and eventually, provide opportunities for  people-to-people contacts, which is a key and critical factor for  peacemaking.

A key factor for peace and development is also that all this shall  happen with due respect for the sovereignty, jurisdiction,  territorial integrity of the countries, on the basis of the  principles of equality and reciprocity, and we are ready to open our  transport communications to both Azerbaijan and Turkyie, as well as  to our other neighbors and partners. And we are ready to do it even  today. Right today.

By the way, the Crossroads of Peace can become a part of the Middle  Corridor, ensuring greater speed and efficiency of the passage of  goods through it.

The Republic of Armenia is ready to fully ensure the safety of the  passage of cargo, vehicles and people on its territory. It is our  wish; our commitment and we can do it. By the way, all those claims  that Armenia has agreed somewhere, in some document, that third  forces shall provide the security of communications on its territory,  are simply distortion of reality.

Armenia's commitment is clear: to guarantee the safety of cargo,  vehicles and people on its territory and we guarantee it.

Honorable President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today I don't want to send any negative, worrying or pessimistic  message, not because they do not exist, but because the Armenian  proverb says: "Let us speak the positive, in order to be well",  meaning that when you speak positive, good things tend to become  reality. It may be that there is a similar saying in Azerbaijan,  Turkiye, Iran, Georgia, and in other countries in the world, and they   all consider it their own.  

But "Let us speak the positive, in order to be well", is not about  saying empty words. Of course one should work hard and sometimes make  hard decisions.

In my speech, I laid out all the circumstances that give me a reason  to speak the positive, to be well in front of this distinguished  audience. And if we rely on these circumstances, good things will  happen, initiating a process of reducing the circumstances that  generate the negative. Thank you ".