Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has responded to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent comment that “there is no Lake Sevan, there is Lake Goycha,” calling the statement unconstructive and inconsistent with the logic of peace.
As reported by Aysor.am , Mirzoyan said Aliyev’s exact wording referenced tsarist-era maps, where the lake was labeled as “Goycha,” and that he didn’t interpret Aliyev’s remark as denying the existence of Lake Sevan today. However, he added:
“Still, it’s not a constructive formulation and doesn’t fit within a peace narrative.”
Mirzoyan further noted, “I could also point to many tsarist maps that show Sevan. I don’t even want to go deep into history, because it could lead to awkward situations where we see Armenian place names over much larger areas. Let’s talk about the real borders of Armenia today, those recognized by Azerbaijan.”
Aliyev had previously said, “There is no Lake Sevan, there is Lake Goycha,” and suggested that the return of Azerbaijanis to their “historical lands” within Armenia should not alarm the Armenian public, as it would happen “not with tanks, but with cars.”
