Pashinyan Does Not Rule Out “Returning” Enclaves to Azerbaijan, Uses Azeri Names for Sovereign Armenian Towns, Sparks Firestorm Ahead of Armenia’s High-Stakes Election

As Armenia’s parliamentary election campaign intensifies ahead of the June 7 vote, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has triggered a new political controversy after speaking about the issue of Azerbaijani enclaves and the future of border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan. His remarks quickly drew strong reactions from opposition forces, who accused him of preparing the public for additional territorial concessions if he is re-elected.

During a campaign event, Pashinyan was asked which territories could potentially be transferred as part of the delimitation process. In response, he referred to the three Azerbaijani enclaves by their Azerbaijani names and stated: “Azerbaijan’s three territories — Barkhudarly, Kheyrimli... as a result of delimitation, we must find solutions regarding what we do, because if Artsvashen fully returns... the conflict is overcome, now through delimitation we must resolve the final consequences.”

The statement immediately became a major topic in Armenia’s political debate. Opposition representatives claimed the prime minister’s comments were an indication that new territorial concessions could follow after the election.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a candidate from former President Robert Kocharyan’s “Armenia” alliance, argued that the mention of Artsvashen was only being used as justification for future concessions to Azerbaijan.

“He has a signed surrender document, an obligation and promise before Aliyev, saying: ‘Help me get elected and afterward I will return more territories.’ If re-elected, he will say, ‘I did not give them away, the people did, because I warned in advance that I would hand over territories, and the people gave me a mandate and trust for that,’” Saghatelyan stated.

Criticism also came from Narek Karapetyan, who represents businessman Samvel Karapetyan’s “Strong Armenia” alliance. Karapetyan questioned why the Armenian government does not publicly speak with the same intensity about territories that Armenia considers occupied by Azerbaijan.

“Is there any leader in the world who constantly comes out and talks about giving something away? First, it was the road that was supposedly the obstacle. Now they have found some territories that are the obstacle, tomorrow it will be something else. This man is under their control. He is a hostage to the promises he made to those people,” Narek Karapetyan said.

Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, also addressed the issue during a campaign appearance. He connected the enclave discussions to the broader consequences of Armenia’s post-war negotiations and losses.

“This is how he negotiated with our allies and our enemies, which is why we are in this situation today, why we suffered casualties, lost territories, and continue losing them. Yesterday he announced that three more regions still have to be handed over, and it will continue like that. This is not peace,” Tsarukyan said.

Meanwhile, Armenia’s National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan defended the government and accused the opposition of spreading fear and misinformation similar to what happened during the return of four villages in the Tavush region to Azerbaijan earlier in the delimitation process.

“And before, when they claimed that Tavush was being handed over, they created the so-called salvation movement for Tavush, came to Yerevan, said Vayk was being handed over and so on — did we give it away? In practice, 12 kilometers have been delimited. Daily discussions and work continue at the deputy prime minister level regarding the continuation and the rest, meaning the complete delimitation process. How long can they continue repeating the same nonsense and trying to deceive people?” Simonyan said.

Despite the government’s defense of the process, the border delimitation talks remain highly controversial inside Armenia. The delimitation process largely stopped after the return of the four Tavush villages to Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan currently only have an agreement to continue discussions from the northern section of the border.

At the same time, uncertainty remains over how and when discussions will address Armenian territories currently under Azerbaijani control. Armenian authorities continue to insist the matter should be resolved peacefully through border delimitation negotiations, while statements from Baku have repeatedly suggested Azerbaijani forces do not plan to withdraw from their current positions.

“The Azerbaijanis also want Armenians to leave the centimeters where Armenians are positioned ahead. We also want them to leave the centimeters where they are positioned ahead. Border demarcation and delimitation — that is what this process is about,” Simonyan stated.

The enclave issue itself is not new in Armenian politics. Pashinyan publicly discussed the matter as early as 2021, when he said Azerbaijan was already raising questions related to the enclaves during negotiations following the 2020 war.

“The enclave issue, the fact that Azerbaijan is pursuing it and that there was even an attempt to address the issue on November 9 — I have spoken about it before. But our position here is that we must understand what legal basis those enclaves shown on the map actually have. We strongly doubt that they have a legal basis,” Pashinyan said at the time.

The Armenian enclave of Artsvashen, which has been under Azerbaijani control since the early 1990s, is estimated to cover around 38 to 40 square kilometers. The three Azerbaijani enclaves located within Armenia together total approximately 44 square kilometers. Over the years, Armenian officials and experts have discussed different possible scenarios regarding the enclaves, including territorial exchanges, mutual recognition, or maintaining the current situation without changes.

Now, with parliamentary elections approaching, the enclave issue has once again become one of the most politically sensitive topics in Armenia’s domestic debate, with both the government and opposition presenting sharply different interpretations of what future border agreements with Azerbaijan could mean for the country.

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