Prevent further displacement
Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of “ethnic cleansing.”
October 12, 2023, 2:47 p.m
Azerbaijan is quickly clearing the air militarily in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. But Armenia accuses the country of not stopping there. There is talk of “ethnic cleansing” before the International Court of Justice. The military must withdraw and displacement must be prevented.
Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of “ethnic cleansing” in the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. “Less than nine months ago, I stood on this podium and warned that Azerbaijan was embarking on a plan to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh of all Armenians,” Armenian representative Yegish Kirakosyan said in The Hague. “Madam President, it pains me greatly to have to say that this has now become a reality.”
The hearing followed an Azerbaijani military offensive in which Baku quickly seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians. The court was now dealing with Armenia’s request to the ICJ to order Azerbaijan to withdraw “all military and law enforcement personnel from all civilian facilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.” Yerevan also called on the judges to ensure that Baku does not take “measures (…) that lead to the expulsion of the remaining ethnic Armenians or prevent the safe and rapid return” of the refugees.
Self-proclaimed republic is dissolved
Baku launched a military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19th. Just one day later, the pro-Armenian fighters there surrendered, and the dissolution of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh was announced on January 1, 2024. The Azerbaijani army deployment triggered a mass refugee movement – a large majority of the estimated 120,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia.
“There is still time to prevent the expulsion of ethnic Armenians from becoming irreversible and to protect the very few ethnic Armenians remaining in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Kirakosyan continued.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. This belongs to Azerbaijan under international law, but so far the majority of ethnic Armenians have lived there.
The International Court of Justice is the central judicial body of the United Nations and decides on disputes between countries. His judgments are binding. However, the ICJ has no real tools at its disposal to enforce compliance with its rulings.