The diplomat named the conditions for opening Armenia's borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Armenia's land borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan will open after elections and a constitutional referendum, when territorial claims against neighbors are removed from the country's constitution, an Azerbaijani diplomat stated.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," official Baku has repeatedly reminded that a condition for signing a peace treaty with Armenia is amending its constitution, which currently contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. In February 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that Armenia needs to amend its constitution through a referendum. The new constitution, he said, will enshrine the ideology of "Real Armenia," which equates the homeland with an internationally recognized state. The Armenian Prime Minister's proposal has sparked sharp criticism in society.
The current Armenian Constitution references the NKR Declaration of Independence, which stipulates the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. In August 2025, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed in Washington to end hostilities and stipulated that the parties would not make territorial claims against each other. "No international treaty can be ratified if it contradicts the current Constitution," Ara Papyan, director of the Modus Vivendi center, explained to the Caucasian Knot earlier. The normalization processes of Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations are proceeding in parallel, so the opening of Armenia's border with Turkey, as well as its border with Azerbaijan, will take place after the final signing of a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan. This was stated by Azerbaijani Ambassador to Ankara Rashad Mammadov. Journalists asked the diplomat whether Azerbaijan is currently blocking the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border: according to their information, Turkey wants to open its land borders with Armenia, but is facing a veto from Baku, the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported.
Commenting on the situation, Mamedov noted that Armenia's borders with Turkey, as well as with Azerbaijan, could be opened after the country holds elections scheduled for June 7 and a referendum on amending the basic law.
“We are simultaneously pursuing the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, as well as between Armenia and Azerbaijan. We are reaching agreements with each other, moving step by step. The Armenian Constitution contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. After the elections on June 7, they will amend the constitution and hold a referendum. Once the territorial claims are resolved, a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, agreed upon in the United States, will be signed. After that, the borders between Armenia and Turkey, as well as between Armenia and Azerbaijan, will open,” the publication quotes him as saying.
The June parliamentary elections in Armenia will effectively be a referendum on the future of Nikol Pashinyan's government and the country's foreign policy. At stake is the current team's retention of power or its transfer to the opposition, which promises to reconsider key decisions of recent years, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia."
The ambassador added that both Azerbaijan and Turkey are already taking steps toward direct trade with Armenia. "We currently play a role in Armenia's energy security; we supply them with oil and fuel. We facilitate the transportation of their wheat and other products through Azerbaijan from Kazakhstan and Russia. And we tell them that if there is peace, then their security will improve. Turkey is also taking small steps,” Mamedov noted.
The border between Turkey and Armenia has been closed since 1993. In October 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed hope that the countries would open their borders in the near future, Lenta.Ru notes today.
The "Caucasian Knot" reported that at the end of April, Pashinyan called the burning of the Turkish flag by ARF Dashnaktsutyun activists in Yerevan "obviously provocative behavior." The flag was burned by participants in a torchlight procession in Yerevan dedicated to the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide; in previous years, this event was accompanied by the burning of the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
According to analysts, the party of Samvel Karapetyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and former President Robert Kocharyan will be key competitors in the elections to the National Assembly of Armenia on June 7. Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia", along with Kocharyan's "Armenia" bloc and Gagik Tsarukyan's "Prosperous Armenia" party, is one of the most pro-Russian parties in the Armenian parliamentary elections. The Kremlin is counting on Karapetyan, but by law he cannot participate in the elections, Armenian political scientists pointed out earlier.