Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has referred to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent mention of Tsarist-era maps and the use of Azerbaijani names for Armenian settlements, calling such discussions “meaningless” in the context of current agreements between the two countries.
Responding to a journalist’s question during a press briefing, Pashinyan said historical map arguments have no relevance to present-day borders or political relations.
“I consider this a pointless topic and meaningless discussion, especially after the August 8, 2025 agreements. There are signed and initialed documents that clearly define our approaches. We must stop this kind of historical debate,” the Prime Minister stated.
He noted that even the maps Aliyev referred to could be disadvantageous not only for Armenia, but for Azerbaijan as well.
“If our journalists actually looked at that map, they would see that the word Armenia appears where Armenia is today, but Azerbaijan is not written where Azerbaijan is. What does that mean? Nothing. These discussions have no value,” Pashinyan said.
He added that appealing to historical maps cannot carry any legal consequences.
“If we go by Tsarist maps, why stop there? Before that were the Sultanate, the Shah’s empire, the Khanates, the Caliphate. In those maps there is no Republic of Armenia and no Republic of Azerbaijan,” he said.
Touching on Aliyev’s remarks that Azerbaijanis could come to Armenia “by car, not by tanks,” Pashinyan said this statement should be understood in the context of peace and freedom of movement.
“Peace means that people from Armenia can drive, including to Baku, and people from Azerbaijan can drive, including to Yerevan. If it means something else, that’s a dangerous agenda for peace,” he said.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the August 8, 2025 signed and initialed documents, as well as the September 2024 border delimitation commission regulations, remain the guiding framework for Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
