Armenia appealed to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations on the issue of setting up an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor. According to the Representative of Armenia on International Legal Matters, Azerbaijan's move is a clear violation of the February 22 decision of the court, which was presented in a letter sent from Armenia to The Hague. For four months, Azerbaijan has closed the road connecting Armenia to Artsakh, and for 2 months, it has been ignoring the Hague rulings to ensure uninterrupted two-sided movement of people, cars, and cargo through the Lachin Corridor.
Yeghishe Kirakosyan (Armenia’s Representative on International Legal Matters) - Unfortunately, Azerbaijan not only did not implement this decision, but also started an international campaign, distorting the content of the decision. In response, we took action both in court and at the UN in the form of letters submitted. What happened a few days ago was a more flagrant violation of the decision, much more clear and unequivocal. At the moment, we are expecting the course of the court, the letter will be sent to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan will present its answer.
Armenia's letter to the International Court of Justice will be sent to Azerbaijan, to which Baku must respond. There is no time frame for the process, but apparently it is about days. According to Kirakosyan, regardless of this, they will regularly submit information about the situation to the Court.
Yeghishe Kirakosyan - We are sure that the Court also understands that we are talking about the life and health of 100,000 or more people and all fundamental rights. It is not only the protesters that are being talked about here, when Azerbaijan tried to falsely prove the excuse of the protesters, which no one believed, now it is closed with concrete actions, we present that, the international reaction, other evidences that substantiate our arguments in the letter, we will wait for Azerbaijan's response and Court actions.
More than a month ago, Armenia raised the issue of non-implementation of the decision to apply an interim measure against Azerbaijan, and also responded to Azerbaijan's letter addressed to the UN Secretary General, in which Baku tried to mislead the international community with false theses. According to the Armenian Representative of International Legal Matters, applying by letter is the fastest way. The next step, according to him, may be to apply to the UN Security Council.
Yeghishe Kirakosyan - Taking the issue to the UN Security Council is a bit of a political process. The involvement of our colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is important here, because we’ll need to conduct political consultations with member states, the permanent and non-permanent members to be able to bring the issue to the agenda. Besides, the Prime Minister made a statement, work is being done in that direction.
In the ‘Azerbaijan v. Armenia’ case under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Armenia's preliminary objections to Azerbaijan's claim were presented to The Hague Court, arguing that the Court had no jurisdiction over Azerbaijan's claims and that they were inadmissible.
Yeghishe Kirakosyan - The Court suspended the examination of the merits of the case until the decision on the objections presented by Armenia is made. For example, temporal jurisdiction or subject matter, that is, falls within the convention on the basis of which we filed the litigation. Azerbaijan has also submitted objections. We will do so.
The written phase will be followed by court hearings, and objection evidence will be discussed. Armenia submitted four interstate complaints against Azerbaijan and one against Turkey to the European Court. The first refers to the 44-day war, the second to the illegal trials of prisoners, and the third to the deployment of Azerbaijani armed forces in the sovereign territory of Armenia. According to Kirakosyan, this complaint was supplemented with facts about the events that happened on April 11 near Tegh village. The events of Parukh, later Karaglukh, Aghavno, Sus villages that took place in March 2022, and also the closure of the Lachin corridor, are presented in the fourth complaint. Armenia’s lawsuit against Turkey refers to the fact of supporting Azerbaijan and recruiting mercenaries during the 44-day war.
