Armenia ruling force MP: Peace treaty with Azerbaijan should be signed on basis of maps

The prime minister of Armenia noted that Aliyev's recent specific statements are unacceptable to us. And should we negotiate when Aliyev makes some statements that do not contribute to peace; on the contrary, contribute to the increase of tension in the region? Gevorg Papoyan, an MP of the ruling majority Civil Contract Faction in the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, told this to reporters at the NA Tuesday.

"Of course, yes because always leaving the negotiations means saying that we are going on the path of war. That's not correct, and we don't move forward like that. On the other hand, preparing for peace does not mean handing over arms and surrendering. Preparing for peace can also imply an action when you increase your combat readiness, thereby preparing for peace because our army does not aim to conquer territories from other countries. Our army has one goal: to keep the territories of Armenia untouched—which is its constitutional duty,” Papoyan added.

Regarding the remark that Azerbaijan rejects the maps presented by the Armenian side to determine the border between the two countries, the Armenian ruling force lawmaker said as follows, in particular: "We need to bring a map where Armenia and Azerbaijan were independent states or within the USSR, there were certain borders that had legal bases. (…). It must be an official document.”

As for the fact that Azerbaijani president Aliyev has stated that they will not take a single step back from the territories they have occupied, which are the sovereign territories of Armenia, Papoyan said: "It is one of those destructive statements, which is unacceptable and does not contribute to the resolution of the created situation in any way. Today, a peace treaty is not signed for that reason as well. It is clear that any solution without maps will have a problem in the legal sense, causing new political tensions in the future. The right thing is that we take the map, sign the peace treaty based on it, and then the delimitation commissions of the [two] parties start adjusting the coordinates. If the map is put on the basis of the peace treaty, the matter will be technical in the future."