The rival former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, which clashed in a short-lived war in 2020, both appealed to the Hague-based ICC to intervene in the conflict.
Armenia accused Azerbaijan of “ethnic cleansing” through its blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region during a hearing today at the International Criminal Court.
The rival former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, which clashed in a short-lived war in 2020, both appealed to the Hague-based ICC to intervene in the conflict.
Since mid-December, Azeris posing as environmental activists protesting what they say are illegal Armenian mining activities have blocked a road – the Lachin Corridor – the only one connecting Armenia to the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
Due to the blockade, the mountainous region of around 120,000 inhabitants is deprived of food, medicine and fuel.
Yerevan says the protesters are being instigated by Baku.
“Such blatant acts of ethnic cleansing have no place in our modern era and this Court is the last hope for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Armenian representative to the ICC, Yeghise Kirakosian.
“It appears that Azerbaijan has every intention of strangling people of Armenian origin,” regardless of the human cost, he added.
Baku responded that Armenia’s accusations are “groundless”.
“Armenia’s claims of blockade by protesters are absolutely false,” Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov told the court. He showed the Court what he said was evidence of traffic on the road in question.
“Azerbaijan’s message to the Armenian people is a message of reconciliation,” he added.
Armenia is asking the ICC to issue measures ordering Azerbaijan to lift the blockade.
Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed in the early 1990s, during the breakup of the USSR, over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan populated mainly by Armenians.
That war, which cost 30,000 lives, ended in a victory for the Armenians. But Azerbaijan, in the fall of 2020, in the war that claimed the lives of 6,500 people, won and allowed Baku to recapture a lot of territory.
The ICC called on the two countries in December 2021 to end racial hatred and avoid aggravating their dispute.
RES-EMP
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