> AMSTERDAM, April 16 (Reuters) – Armenia on Tuesday urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold Azerbaijan responsible for what it said was the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
> **”After threatening to do so for years, Azerbaijan has completed the ethnic cleansing of the region and is now systematically erasing all traces of ethnic Armenians’ presence,”** Armenia’s representative, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, said on the second day of hearings at the U.N.’s top court.
> The case is part of the fallout from decades of confrontation between the South Caucasus neighbours, most explosively over the disputed region in Azerbaijan.
> Azerbaijan’s armed forces recaptured the mountainous region in September after years of ethnic Armenian control, prompting most ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
> In a case first filed at the ICJ in 2021, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of glorifying racism against Armenians, allowing hate speech against Armenians and destroying Armenian cultural sites.
> Armenia said that put Azerbaijan in violation of a U.N. anti-discrimination treaty. Baku denies all the accusations against it.
> On Monday, Azerbaijan told the court that most of Armenia’s complaints related to the armed conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh and did not fall within the scope of the U.N. treaty.
> It also accused Armenia of not genuinely engaging in negotiations before bringing the case to the ICJ, also known as the World Court. Kirakosyan rejected these claims.
> “Armenia negotiated with Azerbaijan in good faith and pursued discussions far beyond the point of utility,” he said.
> **In November, the court issued emergency measures in the case, ordering Azerbaijan to allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh to return.**
> 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.
> **The hearings will cover only the legal objections to the jurisdiction of the ICJ and will not go into the merits of the discrimination claims. A final ruling in both cases could be years away and the ICJ has no way to enforce its rulings.**
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> AMSTERDAM, April 16 (Reuters) – Armenia on Tuesday urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold Azerbaijan responsible for what it said was the ethnic cleansing of Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
> **”After threatening to do so for years, Azerbaijan has completed the ethnic cleansing of the region and is now systematically erasing all traces of ethnic Armenians’ presence,”** Armenia’s representative, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, said on the second day of hearings at the U.N.’s top court.
> The case is part of the fallout from decades of confrontation between the South Caucasus neighbours, most explosively over the disputed region in Azerbaijan.
> Azerbaijan’s armed forces recaptured the mountainous region in September after years of ethnic Armenian control, prompting most ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
> In a case first filed at the ICJ in 2021, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of glorifying racism against Armenians, allowing hate speech against Armenians and destroying Armenian cultural sites.
> Armenia said that put Azerbaijan in violation of a U.N. anti-discrimination treaty. Baku denies all the accusations against it.
> On Monday, Azerbaijan told the court that most of Armenia’s complaints related to the armed conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh and did not fall within the scope of the U.N. treaty.
> It also accused Armenia of not genuinely engaging in negotiations before bringing the case to the ICJ, also known as the World Court. Kirakosyan rejected these claims.
> “Armenia negotiated with Azerbaijan in good faith and pursued discussions far beyond the point of utility,” he said.
> **In November, the court issued emergency measures in the case, ordering Azerbaijan to allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh to return.**
> 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.
> **The hearings will cover only the legal objections to the jurisdiction of the ICJ and will not go into the merits of the discrimination claims. A final ruling in both cases could be years away and the ICJ has no way to enforce its rulings.**
credit /u/mojuba 😛