Azerbaijan to UN World Court urges interim measures against Armenia

Azerbaijan has called for introducing urgent interim measures against Armenia.

Azerbaijan's representative Elnur Mammadov said that Azerbaijan considers it necessary to introduce urgent interim measures against Armenia. He said that Armenia continues the campaign of ethnic cleansing and incitement to violence against Azerbaijan.

At the beginning of his speech to the judges, he cited a number of examples from history, including the Khojaly tragedy, when a large number of peaceful Azerbaijanis were killed by the Armenian armed formations as a result of an attack. He stated that now Armenia is continuing a decades-long campaign of ethnic cleansing.

“Temporary interim measures are necessary to protect against this direct threat,” he noted.

According to Reuters, Azerbaijan asked the World Court to order Armenia to hand over maps it says show the location of landmines on its territory.

Elnur Mammadov told judges that the emergency measures sought were urgently needed to protect against the "dire threat" posed by what it says is Armenia's refusal to hand over the maps.

The alleged campaign of placing landmines "is quite simply a continuation of Armenia's decades-long ethnic cleansing operation and an attempt to keep these territories cleansed of Azerbaijanis", Mammadov said.

The UN International Court of Justice holds hearings on the claim of Azerbaijan against Armenia for violation of the international convention “on the abolition of all forms of racial discrimination” on October 18-19.

Azerbaijan earlier filed a lawsuit against Armenia in the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, for violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).