Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan believes that the Armenian Constitution contains clauses that should be amended given all geopolitical changes and developments.
“We must understand in which direction Armenia is moving and what goals it is pursuing, and what’s the meaning of the existence of the Republic of Armenia,” Simonyan said at a press conference when asked whether the authorities consider removing the mention of the Declaration of Independence from the Constitution because it in turn mentions Nagorno-Karabakh. “Is that existence for us to restore the historic [Armenia Major], or is it about September 21, when we gained independence, or is it about the citizen of the Republic of Armenia who must be safe and have a prosperous life,” Simonyan added. The Speaker said that answers must be given to these questions, and that the answers aren’t unequivocal within the public. “Armenia can’t be something amorphous. No one can argue with us about this. The citizens of Armenia cannot not understand or know where their homeland begins and ends. Indeed, the Armenian highlands is my homeland, but I have a state called the Republic of Armenia. We gained independence in 1991 with concrete borders, and this must be clear and reflected in all documents,” Simonyan said.
Asked whether amending the Constitution is Azerbaijan’s demand and has something to do with the peace talks, Simonyan said, “I am urging you, and I insist, that from now on, in all the cases when you will ask such a question to Armenian officials, know that the same issue is raised by Armenia. The Azerbaijani Constitution, the Azerbaijani legal acts also contain provisions that should be reciprocally changed. I say again, any negotiations carried out by Armenia are done [reciprocally] in a mirrored way. Meaning, if there is a remark or offer to make the future peace stronger, this relates both to Azerbaijan and to Armenia.”
