Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in an interview with Turkish media representatives, stated that Azerbaijan is raising an issue it presents as "Western Azerbaijan," encompassing approximately 60-70% of Armenia’s sovereign territory. At the same time, official Baku is attempting to engage Yerevan in discussions on this topic.

"If we want to look for or identify Western Azerbaijan, we should refer to the regions of Kazakh, Aghstafa, Getabek, Kelbajar, Lachin, Zangilan, Gubadli. If I forget to mention a region, it is not an intentional omission—I mean that we can look at the map and determine what Western Azerbaijan actually is," said Pashinyan.

The Armenian PM emphasized that Baku is trying to present this issue as a humanitarian matter, pressuring Armenia into discussions, but Yerevan cannot accept this framing.

"They are attempting to frame this as a humanitarian issue, urging us to discuss it. But as I said, they call 60% of our sovereign territory 'Western Azerbaijan.' Therefore, such a topic is not open for discussion. And if we are to talk about refugees, I have already mentioned that we even have a document on the return of refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions. There are refugees from Nakhichevan, Baku, Sumgait, and the surrounding regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ganja, and others both in Armenia and the diaspora," Pashinyan stated.

According to the Prime Minister, this is essentially a territorial claim against Armenia, which makes any discussion impossible. He added that, following this logic, discussions on the so-called "Zangezur Corridor" are also impossible, as it contains elements threatening Armenia’s territorial integrity.

Pashinyan pointed out contradictions in Azerbaijan’s statements.

"How so? Azerbaijan contradicts itself by calling the period since 2021 a post-conflict era at an official level, yet it continues to speak in the language of conflict every day. These two narratives do not align. Every day, conflict rhetoric, aggression, threats of force, and the 'Western Azerbaijan' discourse—which questions Armenia’s very existence—are all presented to us, while at the same time, we are invited to discuss it. Sorry, but in my opinion, that is at the very least bizarre," the Prime Minister stated.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev previously stated that Armenia should start a dialogue with the so-called "Western Azerbaijan" community, which in Azerbaijan refers to nearly all of Armenia’s territory, including Yerevan.