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Akbar Novruz

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has emphasized the role of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration in advancing the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, describing the document as an important foundation for the delimitation of the two countries' state border.

Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Pashinyan highlighted the declaration's significance in establishing the principles governing relations between the former Soviet republics.

According to the Armenian prime minister, the Alma-Ata Declaration, adopted on December 21, 1991, remains one of the foundational documents of the CIS and has acquired particular relevance in the context of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Pashinyan recalled that in 2024, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed and ratified the Regulation on the Joint Activity of the Commissions on State Border Delimitation, establishing a legal framework for the work of the two countries' respective border commissions.

"This Regulation was the first bilateral document with legal force concluded between independent Armenia and independent Azerbaijan. The document establishes that the respective commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be guided by the Alma-Ata Declaration as a fundamental principle in the process of delimiting the state border between the two countries," he added.

The Alma-Ata Declaration was adopted by former Soviet republics following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Among its central principles were respect for territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing borders.

These principles have subsequently become an important reference point in negotiations between Baku and Yerevan, particularly concerning the recognition of territorial integrity and the legal basis for determining their interstate boundary.

The 2024 regulation formalised the use of the declaration as a guiding principle for the bilateral border delimitation commissions, providing a common framework for their technical and legal work.

The distinction between delimitation and demarcation remains important to the process. While delimitation involves determining the course of a state border through legal agreements and maps, demarcation concerns physically marking that agreed boundary on the ground.