Cases currently brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan and pending in international tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice, will not hinder the peace process between the two countries, Armenia’s lead representative at the legal fora Yegishe Kirakosyan said late last week.
While saying that the details of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace proposals were the purview of the foreign ministries of both countries, Kirakosyan told reporters that the processes that are currently under review pertain to international conventions and laws.
“I don’t think that the legal disputes between the two countries can hinder the peace process. In my opinion, the point of legal disputes is to establish peace to some extent. When states initiate legal disputes, resolve differences in a civilized way, it also means preventing war,” said Kirakosyan.
“I can confidently say that the ongoing dispute initiated by Armenia, for example, on the basis of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which is being examined at the International Court of Justice, based also on the preamble to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, is aimed at preventing war because from the beginning, one of the goals of the convention itself was that the prevention and prohibition of promoting racism is aimed at strengthening peace and preventing war. In my opinion, it is very reasonable and logical,” the legal expert added.
“One should not rush to comment on that. Azerbaijan also has cases against Armenia; it is not only Armenia that has cases against Azerbaijan. Here the question rises: if Azerbaijan is confident in its legal positions, why are they putting forward the idea of stopping court proceedings?,” Kirakosyan said referring to overtures by the current Armenian regime to end litigation against Azerbaijan in international courts, as has been demanded by Baku.
“We have submitted claims in legal proceedings regarding all Armenian citizens illegally detained in Baku, including Armenians by nationality, in the European Court, and it was also discussed in the submissions to the International Court of Justice. At this phase, the European Court has set a certain deadline for Azerbaijan to provide detailed information about all detained persons until the end of January,” Kirkosyan explained.
“We expect detailed information about everyone, about their condition, rights, conditions of detention, state of health, etc. Naturally, when we receive this information, we also pass it on to their relatives. Complaint No. 2 submitted against Azerbaijan refers to the issue of illegal judicial processes and illegal deprivation of liberty against persons detained there,” added Kirakosyan.
“Examining disputes in international courts is a civilized method of dispute resolution, accepted in the modern world. The history that we have had for decades, centuries, it would be difficult to imagine not having a dispute, and the resolution of the dispute is an opportunity for discharge in a certain way for both countries,” Kirakosyan stressed.
