Pashinyan: Return of Artsakh Armenians Impossible After Azerbaijan’s Ethnic Cleansing

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) this week, making clear that Azerbaijan’s attempts to misrepresent Armenia’s Constitution and territorial policy are groundless. He said that there is no need for constitutional change in order for Armenia to sign a peace agreement, because the draft treaty itself provides sufficient legal guarantees.

Baku has repeatedly accused Armenia’s Constitution of containing “territorial claims,” pointing to Artsakh as justification for its aggression. Yet Armenia’s Constitutional Court has already ruled that agreements with Azerbaijan, including the work of the border delimitation commissions, fully comply with Armenia’s Constitution. In short, Baku’s arguments are a political weapon, not a legal fact.

Pashinyan reminded the Assembly that both countries, in the 2022 Prague Declaration and in the draft peace agreement, reaffirmed their commitment to the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, which recognizes borders of the former Soviet republics. The peace agreement explicitly records that neither side has territorial claims and prevents either party from using internal laws as an excuse to avoid obligations. This is a direct rejection of Azerbaijan’s propaganda.

Even as Armenia works to secure peace, Azerbaijan continues to push destabilizing rhetoric. Baku insists on using the term “Zangezur corridor” for transit routes through Armenia, despite Armenia’s repeated objections. Prime Minister Pashinyan has condemned this terminology as a territorial claim, reminding that under the Washington agreements brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, the only acceptable phrase is the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).”

By ignoring signed agreements and international witnesses, Azerbaijani officials prove once again that their intentions are not peace, but expansionism. The demand for a so-called “corridor” echoes Azerbaijan’s strategy after the 2020 war: to weaken Armenia’s sovereignty and force extraterritorial control over Syunik. This dangerous narrative must be recognized for what it is—an attempt to dismantle Armenia’s territorial integrity.

In his PACE speech, Pashinyan acknowledged the painful truth: the return of Artsakh Armenians to their ancestral lands under Azerbaijani rule is not realistic today. Azerbaijan’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, completed in 2023 under the eyes of the world, has made safe return impossible.

Pashinyan explained that raising this topic without conditions of safety and self-determination only endangers the fragile peace. Instead, Armenia must integrate the displaced Artsakh Armenians, ensuring they can live with dignity, security, and opportunity within the Republic of Armenia. 

Despite the signing of agreements and public talk of peace, Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian prisoners of war and refuses to clarify the fate of missing persons. Pashinyan emphasized that peace is fragile—“a newborn” that requires daily care—and that without addressing humanitarian issues such as prisoners, there cannot be real reconciliation.

Azerbaijan’s refusal to comply with humanitarian norms violates both international law and the spirit of peace agreements. For Armenians, the struggle to bring back prisoners and account for the missing is a moral and national duty.

While Armenia strengthens democracy, fights corruption, and builds rule of law, Azerbaijan operates as a dictatorship under Ilham Aliyev. Pashinyan reminded European lawmakers that Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution delivered genuine democracy, free elections, and reforms that have been praised by international observers.

In contrast, Azerbaijan uses disinformation, oil wealth, and military aggression to mask its authoritarian nature. Its attacks on Artsakh, its occupation of Armenian territories, and its threats against Syunik prove that Baku cannot be trusted as a peace partner.

Armenia has consistently proven its readiness for peace based on international law and mutual recognition of borders. Azerbaijan, however, continues to undermine these efforts with false claims, aggressive rhetoric, and territorial ambitions.

For Armenians, peace does not mean surrender. It means securing sovereignty, protecting the rights of displaced Artsakh Armenians, and rejecting any attempt by Baku to impose its will through force or blackmail.

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