THE HAGUE: Azerbaijan and Armenia have once again clashed before the top court of the United Nations, as Baku accused Yerevan of leveraging the high-profile hearings for a “public media campaign” against its long-standing rival.
Representatives and legal teams from both countries commenced two weeks of hearings on Monday at the ornate Peace Palace of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, delving into interpretations of international law.
Military tensions between the neighboring nations are again escalating following the conflict in the mountainous region of Karabakh.
Azerbaijan’s representative, Elnur Mammadov, argued before the judges that Armenia’s lawsuit was premature and urged the court to dismiss the case, citing Armenia’s failure to engage in negotiations with Azerbaijan to resolve the dispute.
Mammadov said that Armenia had initiated the proceedings before the court with the intention of waging a public media campaign against Azerbaijan, highlighting limited negotiation attempts that were not actively pursued by Yerevan.
The legal dispute before the ICJ stems from September 2021 when both countries filed lawsuits against each other, accusing one another of “ethnic cleansing” and violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
The ICJ issued emergency orders in December 2021, urging both parties to prevent incitement and promotion of racial hatred. However, tensions continued to escalate, leading to Azerbaijan’s military operation in Karabakh last September.
Following Azerbaijan’s reclaiming of Karabakh in the offensive, Armenia returned to the ICJ, seeking an order for Azerbaijan to withdraw its troops from the region and allow Armenians to return. In November, the court instructed Azerbaijan to facilitate the return of individuals to Karabakh in a safe and expedited manner.
The current hearings, scheduled until April 26, mainly address objections raised by both parties to each other’s original cases filed in September 2021.
Despite the ongoing legal battles, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have expressed optimism about reaching a comprehensive peace agreement after last year’s offensive in Karabakh.
The two former Soviet republics have engaged in two wars over control of the mountainous region, in 2020 and the early 1990s, resulting in significant casualties and displacements on both sides.
