Pashinyan: Three Azerbaijani enclaves are not part of Armenia's 28,743 sq km territory
Three former enclave territories of Azerbaijan are not part of Armenia's internationally recognized territory of 28,743 sq km, whereas Artsvashen is included in it.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this at a briefing, Sputnik Armenia reports.
Earlier, Pashinyan stated that, in accordance with the delimitation principle agreed upon by Yerevan and Baku, Artsvashen is Armenian territory, whereas Kyarki, Barkhudarlu, and Yukhari Askipara are not.
The prime minister emphasized that, in mentioning Kyarki, he was merely stating the territorial affiliation.
"I did not speak about a return, I only said 'Kyarki,' recording the fact that such a territory exists. I said that Armenia's internationally recognized territory is 28,743 sq km. Three enclave territories are not included in this calculation. Our Artsvashen is included," Pashinyan said.
According to him, rejecting this logic would mean that Armenia lays claim to territory exceeding the internationally recognized 28,743 sq km.
"If we do not accept this, then we are asserting that Armenia's internationally recognized territory is not 28,743 sq km, but, for example, 29,755 sq km. That means indirectly declaring war on Azerbaijan," the prime minister said.
Pashinyan explained his statements by his desire to exclude the topic of the enclaves from among the possible pretexts for a new escalation. According to him, both within Armenia and beyond its borders there are forces interested in undermining the established peace.
"I am, roughly speaking, removing the nerve from this topic so that no escalation can be initiated around it. We currently have no discussion on this topic with Azerbaijan. But we do have the issue of delimitation," he noted.
Pashinyan expressed confidence that the issue of the enclaves will subsequently become part of the ordinary delimitation process and will be resolved in a working order.
