Azerbaijan demands Armenian apology as presidential adviser questions durability of peace agreement

BAKU – Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev has called on Armenia and Armenian society to apologize to Azerbaijanis displaced during the conflict, introducing another contentious demand into the ongoing peace process.

Speaking on October 26, Hajiyev said Armenia should apologize to Azerbaijanis who have been unable to return to their former homes for approximately three decades.

He maintained that Azerbaijan was not seeking revenge but insisted that additional steps were necessary to establish lasting peace.

Hajiyev also warned that a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan could be signed yet remain little more than a document unless it produced tangible results.

The remarks come as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government continues to prioritize the formal signing of a peace treaty with Baku.

Despite Yerevan’s stated readiness to move forward, Azerbaijan continues to raise demands, including constitutional changes in Armenia.

Hajiyev’s latest comments add to concerns about the increasingly asymmetric expectations surrounding negotiations, particularly in the absence of comparable commitments toward the rights and safe return of Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh in 2023.

For Armenia, the central question remains whether the peace process can establish reciprocal obligations and durable security guarantees, rather than becoming a framework through which Baku continues to introduce new conditions.

The latest Azerbaijani statements are likely to intensify domestic scrutiny of the Armenian government’s negotiating strategy and its ability to safeguard national interests.