Azerbaijan Asks ICJ To Throw Out Armenia’s Case Accusing It of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’

Azerbaijan has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to throw out a case filed by neighbouring Armenia accusing it of “ethnic cleansing.” Azerbaijan’s representative Elnur Mammadov told judges that Armenia’s lawsuit was “premature” and he urged the court to throw out the case because he claimed that Armenia had so far failed to engage in negotiations with Azerbaijan in an attempt to settle.”

Armenia will respond to the Azeri charges on Tuesday

The dispute between the two sides is over the disputed territory of Nagarno Karabakh which both countries lay claim to. Both countries had filed similar lawsuits against one another in 2021 accusing each other of “ethnic cleansing” and of violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The case accused Azerbaijan of glorifying racism against Armenians, allowing hate speech against Armenians and destroying Armenian cultural sites – all accusations that Baku denies. Azerbaijan subsequently filed a claim against Armenia, accusing it of discrimination and ethnic cleansing against Azeris and breaching the same treaty.

The latest problem comes as Azerbaijan took the disputed province after a 44-day war in November 2020 as Armenian forces capitulated. Ethnic Armenians fled from the area to Armenia who then accused the Azeris of ethnic cleansing. Azerbaijan says it has pledged to ensure all residents’ safety and security, regardless of national or ethnic origin, and that it has not forced ethnic Armenians to leave Karabakh.

In November last year, the court issued emergency measures in Armenia’s case ordering Azerbaijan to allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in September to return. However, a final ruling in both cases can be years away and the ICJ has no way to enforce its rulings.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev have said that they are now closer to signing a comprehensive peace deal than ever before.  If this is so it could finally bring an end to the conflict that has been there since the late 1980s.

(With inputs from Reuters)