Azerbaijani MFA comments on decision of International Court of Justice to prohibit Armenia's propaganda of racial hatred

Azerbaijan suffered from the fact that an equal approach was shown towards the aggressor and to the one who was subjected to aggression, on the political arena, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said at a briefing.

According to Mammadov, each court has the power to decide on a complaint under a specific convention.

"Therefore, Azerbaijan has filed complaints against Armenia in several international courts within the framework of various international conventions," he noted.

The deputy minister further said that the first court to which Azerbaijan applied was the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and the complaint was filed on the basis of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, to which both Azerbaijan and Armenia joined.

"The complaint covered issues related to the first Karabakh war [in 1990s], the period of occupation [of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia], the aggressive policy of Armenia against Azerbaijan during the 44-day second Karabakh war [from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020],” he reminded.

Due to the equal treatment shown to the aggressor and to the one who was subjected to aggression, in February this year, Azerbaijan filed a complaint, which will be considered by the European Court in the coming years, added Mammadov.

He noted that three days before the announcement of the court's decision, Armenia, having transferred mine maps of the remaining territories of Azerbaijan, eliminated the need for the court to make a decision on this issue.

The deputy minister noted that at the end of the 44-day Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan demanded from Armenia a map of minefields in order to facilitate the process of mine clearance.

“As on many other issues, Armenia has shown an inconsistent and insincere position here. At first, Armenia refused to comment on this issue but then stated that it did not have maps of minefields. From June through July, in exchange for maps of minefields, Armenia demanded the return of persons of Armenian origin who were detained in Azerbaijan in connection with charges of various crimes. After the transfer of these maps, Armenia admitted that this is only a small part of the maps," Mammadov said.

According to the deputy minister, many international organizations were informed about this.

“Already during the consideration of this issue in court, many authoritative structures called on Armenia to provide maps of minefields. All the facts about the deaths of our civilians by mines were presented to the court. Three days before the announcement of the court's decision, Armenia, having transferred mine maps of the rest of Azerbaijan's territories, eliminated the need for the court to express its attitude on this issue," Mammadov said.

Deputy Foreign Minister said that Azerbaijan openly called on Armenia to abide by the decisions made and to prevent further confrontation.

According to him, Azerbaijan will file two lawsuits against Armenia in two specific directions next year. "One lawsuit will concern the scale of damage to the environment. And, naturally, within the framework of a number of conventions it is planned to raise the issue of damage to the environment in the liberated territories,” he said.

“The second lawsuit will be related to natural resources. Facts are being collected about the illegal use and exploitation of natural resources by Armenia in the Azerbaijani territories during the occupation, and we are preparing to file a lawsuit in this regard," Mammadov said.

On December 7, international justice secured Azerbaijan's petition for temporary measures to prohibit the propaganda of racial hatred by Armenia, including individuals and organizations operating on the territory of this country, directed against Azerbaijanis. The court reasonably instructed the Armenian side to take urgent measures to prevent violations of the rights of Azerbaijanis. This decision was made after court hearings held on October 14-19, 2021. The court also rejected Armenia's requests for the immediate release of the detained persons of Armenian origin and the immediate closure of the Military Trophy Park in Baku.