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Baku, Yerevan may finalize peace treaty in few months — Azerbaijani president

At the same time, Ilham Aliyev emphasized that the peace agreement can be signed only if Armenia changes its constitution

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev Sofya Sandurskaya/POOL/TASS

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev

© Sofya Sandurskaya/POOL/TASS

BAKU, July 1. /TASS/. Azerbaijan and Armenia may finalize the text of a peace treaty within a few months, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said while accepting the credentials of Canada's new ambassador to the country, Kevin Hamilton.

"I think we can finalize the text of the peace treaty, at least its basic principles, within a few months. I note that during the occupation, the plan of the mediators (OSCE Minsk Group - TASS) was to come to an agreement on the basic principles, called the Madrid Principles. They were to be initialed and then a text was to be drawn up. We believe that this could be an option - to agree on the basic principles, initial them and then work on the text [of the peace treaty]," Aliyev said as quoted on the president’s website.

At the same time, the Azerbaijani leader emphasized that the peace agreement can be signed only if Armenia changes its constitution. "The main condition [for signing] the peace agreement is to change Armenia's constitution, because it contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. And until this [change] happens, the peace agreement will not be signed," Aliyev said.

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Armenia Azerbaijan

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