Armenia’s new constitution will not reference the country’s Declaration of Independence

Armenia’s new constitution will not reference the country’s Declaration of Independence, which Azerbaijan considers an obstacle to signing a peace treaty, a ruling party lawmaker said in parliament today.

Arusyak Julhakyan of the Civil Contract party also said the draft constitution will be finalized and made public by the end of this year, though the government’s previous pledge was to release it in March.

Last August, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace declaration in Washington and initialed a peace agreement aimed at ending more than 35 years of conflict between the two countries. Initialing means that the two sides agreed on the full text of the deal and confirmed that it would not be amended, but so far did not make it legally binding.

However, Baku says it will not sign the final treaty unless Armenia removes the reference to its Declaration of Independence from the constitution. Azerbaijan does not dispute Armenia’s independence itself, but objects to the Declaration’s reference to Nagorno-Karabakh, which it considers a legal territorial claim.

Armenian officials have rejected Baku’s demands, arguing that constitutional changes are an internal matter for Armenia. At the same time, the government has pushed for a new constitution, arguing that the existing document, adopted under previous administrations, lacks public legitimacy.

Following June’s parliamentary election, however, constitutional reform appears to be in limbo, as the ruling Civil Contract party won only 64 of the parliament’s 105 seats, falling short of the two-thirds supermajority required to initiate a nationwide constitutional referendum.

Days after the election, Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan said there could be a workaround, but did not specify the procedure.