Latest news with #Pashinyan
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Armenia's parliament passes bill on EU accession
The Armenian parliament passed a bill "On starting the process of accession of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union" in its second and final reading on March 26, the news agency reported. The bill, introduced into the parliament as a civil initiative after collecting 60,000 signatures, was supported by 64 lawmakers, with seven voting against it. Yerevan has sought to build a closer relationship with the EU amid deteriorating ties with Russia, though the South Caucasus country is yet to submit a membership application. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed in January that even after the bill is passed, the accession process can start only if the Armenian people support it in a referendum. The prime minister noted that the bill should be approached without "undue enthusiasm" and that the country should currently focus on developing more practical steps, such as visa liberalization. Speaking in the European Parliament in October 2023, Pashinyan said that his country is ready to align more closely with the bloc, though he later expressed doubts about whether Armenia is ready for full membership. Pashinyan spoke in the EU's legislature shortly after Russia, Armenia's traditional ally, failed to prevent an Azerbaijani lightning offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to a rapid deterioration of ties between Yerevan and Moscow. Last March, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging the EU's executive bodies to strengthen relations with Armenia. The parliament also said that Armenia meets the Maastricht Treaty requirements to apply for membership. Read also: Russia's sham 'referendums' at gunpoint are null and void, despite Steve Witkoff's comments We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Al Arabiya
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Armenia urges Azerbaijan to sign peace deal after talks conclude
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday called on Azerbaijan to begin consultations on signing a peace treaty, a text of which the arch-foe Caucasus neighbors agreed upon last week. Baku and Yerevan fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh, at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020, before Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023. Both countries have repeatedly said a comprehensive peace deal to end their long-standing conflict is within reach, but previous talks had failed to reach consensus on a draft agreement. On Friday, the two countries said they had wrapped up talks on resolving the conflict, with both sides agreeing on the text of a possible treaty. 'The draft of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement has been agreed upon and awaits signing,' Pashinyan said Thursday in an English post on Telegram. 'I propose Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to begin joint consultations on the signing of the agreed draft peace agreement.' The deal to normalize ties would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence. Baku has made clear its expectations that Armenia remove from its constitution a reference to its 1991 declaration of independence, which asserts territorial claims over Karabakh. Any constitutional amendment would require a national referendum that could further delay the treaty's finalization. Pashinyan has recognized Baku's sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule, a move seen as a crucial first step towards a normalization of relations. Armenia also last year returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it had seized decades earlier. Nearly all ethnic Armenians -- more than 100,000 people -- fled Karabakh after its takeover by Baku. Washington, Brussels and European leaders such as France's President Emmanuel Macron have welcomed the breakthrough. They have all tried to play a mediating role at various times in the conflict.
Jordan Times
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Jordan Times
UN chief 'encouraged' by Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement on peace deal
UNITED NATIONS, United States — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is encouraged by news that long-time foes Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to sign a peace treaty, his spokesman said Friday. "The Secretary-General welcomes the announcements by Armenia and Azerbaijan on the conclusion of negotiations on the draft peace agreement," Stephane Dujarric said a day after the Caucasus neighbors who fought two wars over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave announced they had reached an accord. A day after arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan announced they were ready to sign a long-awaited peace treaty, scepticism ran high Friday among Yerevan residents, while cautious optimism prevailed in Baku. The two Caucasus neighbours fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh -- at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020 -- before Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023. After years of stalled negotiations, both sides announced on Thursday that they had agreed on the text of a comprehensive peace deal and were prepared to sign it. This would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the European Union, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence. But in the capitals of Azerbaijan and Armenia, public reaction remained divided, underscoring lingering tensions between the two ex-Soviet republics. 'Armenia's surrender' Standing in the shade of a tree in Yerevan's central Republic Square, where the spring was in full bloom, Arman Sedrakyan, a 38-year-old construction worker, said: "This document is worthless because Azerbaijan will not stop making new demands on Armenia." "This treaty won't stop Azerbaijan if it decides to attack again, should global and regional conditions allow it," he told AFP. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has recognised Baku's sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule, a move seen as a crucial first step towards a normalisation of relations. But he has faced a domestic backlash for making territorial concessions, including the return of four border villages to Azerbaijan last year. Anush Minasyan, 42, who sells fruit on the street in a Yerevan suburb, shared Sedrakyan's scepticism. "This agreement won't be signed quickly," she said. "We heard yesterday that Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia amend its Constitution, while Pashinyan said a constitutional referendum will take place next year." Baku has made clear its expectations that Armenia remove from its constitution a reference to its 1991 declaration of independence, which asserts territorial claims over Karabakh. Any constitutional amendment would require a national referendum that could further delay the treaty's finalisation. Some Armenians outright rejected the treaty, viewing it as an act of capitulation. "This is not a peace treaty but a document of Armenia's surrender, drafted under threat of war," said 62-year-old Nikolay Manukyan. "Pashinyan is rushing to sign any document just to boost his falling ratings ahead of (parliamentary) elections" scheduled for next year, he alleged. 'Crucial for the future' On a bustling pedestrian avenue in Baku's historic district lined with baroque and Stalin-era buildings, many supported the agreement, while some remained wary of Armenia's commitment to peace. "I support peace and believe that normal relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia are crucial for the future," said 35-year-old translator Ferdowsi Alizadeh. "It's encouraging that negotiations on the peace agreement text have been completed." But Nizami Aliyev, a 74-year-old retired maths teacher, struck a more cautious note. "We welcome our government's peace efforts," he said. "We want peace, we need peace, but history forces us to be sceptical." "Even if a peace agreement is signed, it will remain (just) on paper: Armenians cannot be trusted." Schoolteacher Irada Akhmedova, 26, said she welcomed the prospect of the peace treaty, adding that it was hard to believe that the conflict, "which began even before I was born, is coming to an end". "I sincerely hope that Azerbaijan and Armenia will no longer be enemy states, and that innocent people will no longer have to die," she said. While Washington, Brussels and European leaders such as France's President Emmanuel Macron have welcomed the breakthrough, critics argue that the road to genuine reconciliation remains uncertain. The lingering distrust on both sides suggests that, even if a peace deal is signed, achieving lasting stability in the South Caucasus will require much more than diplomatic agreements.
NBC News
14-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Armenia and Azerbaijan agree treaty terms to end almost 40 years of conflict
Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said Thursday that they had agreed on the text of a peace agreement to end nearly four decades of conflict between the South Caucasus countries, a sudden breakthrough in a fitful and often bitter peace process. The two post-Soviet countries have fought a series of wars since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population at the time, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Armenia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that a draft peace agreement with Azerbaijan had been finalized from its side. 'The peace agreement is ready for signing. The Republic of Armenia is ready to start consultations with the Republic of Azerbaijan on the date and place of signing the agreement.' In its statement, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said: 'We note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded.' However, the timeline for signing the deal is uncertain as Azerbaijan has said a prerequisite for its signature is a change to Armenia's constitution, which it says makes implicit claims to its territory. Armenia denies such claims, but Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has repeatedly said in recent months that the country's founding document needs to be replaced and has called for a referendum to do so. No date has been set. Russia's TASS state news agency cited Pashinyan as telling journalists on Thursday that the agreement would prevent personnel from third countries deploying along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. That provision would most likely cover a European Union civilian monitoring mission that Baku has criticized, as well as Russian border guards who police parts of Armenia's frontiers. The outbreak of hostilities in the late 1980s prompted mass expulsions of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Azeris from Armenia and Armenians, who are majority Christian, from Azerbaijan. Peace talks began after Azerbaijan retook Karabakh by force in September 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia. Most now live in Armenia as refugees. Both sides had said they wanted to sign a treaty to end the long-running conflict, but progress has been slow and relations tense. Their 621-mile shared border is closed and heavily militarized. In January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to peace treaty after nearly four decades of war
Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said Thursday that both countries have agreed to a peace agreement set to end nearly four decades of conflict between the two post-Soviet countries. The neighboring countries have been engaged in a decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway region in the Caucasus Mountains that was home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians. The region is internationally considered part of Azerbaijan but for decades was under the control of Armenian separatists. The breakthrough in the two nations' protracted peace process came on Thursday, with Armenia's foreign ministry saying in a statement that the Peace Agreement is 'ready for signing.' Armenia accepted Azerbaijan's proposals on 'the two unresolved articles' of the draft agreement, the Armenian foreign ministry statement detailed. 'One of the two articles concerns the issue of not deploying forces from third countries along the border. The other concerns the mutual withdrawal of claims from international instances and the commitment not to take actions against each other,' Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said to journalists Thursday, according to Armenia's state news agency Armenpress. Azerbaijan confirmed the success of the peace talks. 'We note with satisfaction that the negotiations on the text of the draft Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been concluded,' Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said in a statement. However, hurdles remain. Azerbaijan also said Armenia's constitution must 'eliminate the claims against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,' as a prerequisite to allow for the signing of the peace treaty. 'We are ready to continue the bilateral dialogue on these and other issues related to the normalization process between the two countries,' the statement said. Armenia's leader said Thursday there had been 'no discussions' regarding Baku's demand that Armenia amend its constitution, Armenpress reported. 'After the Constitutional Court's decision last year, it is clear that the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia does not contain territorial claims against Azerbaijan or any other country. Secondly, we believe that Azerbaijan's Constitution includes claims toward the Republic of Armenia,' Pashinyan said, according to Armenpress. The Armenian leader stressed that the agreed text of the draft peace agreement 'addresses and resolves all these concerns,' Armenpress reported. While Armenia's statement did not reference its constitution, last month Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for a 'national referendum' to adopt a new constitution without setting a date for the vote or specifying what changes would be contained in a new draft, Reuters reported. Armenia and Azerbaijan had already fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and ceasefire agreements between them had proven brittle. The conflict flared again in September 2023, when a lightning 24-hour assault saw Azerbaijan regain total control of Nagorno-Karabakh, prompting the region's ethnic Armenian population to flee to Armenia within a week. CNN's Christian Edwards and Max Saltman contributed reporting.
