Azerbaijan urges ICJ to advance case against Armenia, alleging ethnic cleansing

Azerbaijan has petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to proceed with a case accusing Armenia of ethnic cleansing amid ongoing legal battles between the two nations over decades of ethnic conflict.

Both countries have initiated legal actions at the ICJ regarding the aftermath of conflicts stemming from the Soviet Union's dissolution, particularly concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan previously inhabited by Armenians.

In the 1990s, ethnic Armenians secured victory in a war that resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their homes in and around Karabakh. However, the situation shifted significantly in 2020, with Azerbaijan reclaiming control of Karabakh through military successes, leading to the exodus of thousands of Armenians.

Armenia asks ICJ to dismiss the case

Armenia recently filed a motion with the ICJ to dismiss Azerbaijan's case on procedural grounds, following a similar request made by Azerbaijan a week earlier regarding Armenia's case. Final judgments in either case may be years away, and the ICJ lacks enforcement mechanisms for its rulings.

Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov urged the court to reject Armenia's objections to its jurisdiction. Armenia initially lodged its case with the ICJ in 2021, accusing Azerbaijan of promoting racism against Armenians, tolerating hate speech, and destroying Armenian cultural heritage, contravening the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

In response, Azerbaijan filed a counter-case against Armenia, alleging ethnic cleansing from the early 1990s to 2020. Both sides deny the accusations leveled against them.

The current hearings focus solely on legal challenges to the ICJ's jurisdiction and do not delve into the substance of the discrimination allegations.

Source: Newsroom