ArmInfo. On October 12, the International Court of Justice in The Hague is holding hearings on Armenia's appeal in the framework of the "Armenia v. Azerbaijan" lawsuit on the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
During his speech, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, the representative of Armenia on international legal matters, recalled that 9 months ago from the same rostrum he warned about the program of ethnic cleansing of Nagorno- Karabakh being implemented by Azerbaijan.
"Today, I can sadly state that ethnic cleansing has become a reality. After more than 9 months of blockade, Azerbaijan, contrary to the calls of the international community and the verdicts of the International Court, initiated a large-scale attack on Artsakh on September 19. And after that, for the first time in 9 months, it opened Kashatagh "(Lachin) corridor, but with one sole purpose - to release Artsakh people fleeing the war.
Today in Nagorno-Karabakh, where the Armenian population has always predominated, there are practically no Armenians left. If this is not ethnic cleansing, then I don't know what is," he said. Kirakosyan added that despite the fact that 8 months ago from the same rostrum, the representative of the Azerbaijani side assured that Azerbaijan is faithful to international humanitarian law, universal human rights, and does not plan any atrocities in relations with Armenians, meanwhile, in fact, having supported the Armenian population blockaded for 9 months, the Azerbaijani authorities attacked them, ethnically cleansing Artsakh.
He noted that despite Azerbaijan's promises after the 44-day war in 2020 that Armenians would be able to return to their homes in the territories that came under Azerbaijani control, even after 2 years, not a single Armenian was able to return there, but instead the rest of the Armenians were expelled from Artsakh.
"Since September 20, Azerbaijan has been carrying out the de-Armenization of Nagorno-Karabakh. The obviousness of this fact is beyond doubt," he said, adding that the Court itself may not be too late to become familiar with this fact. He also accused Azerbaijan of destabilizing the region and moving away from the principle of resolving all disputes peacefully, and attempting to mislead the international community by distorting both historical realities and current events.
Last week the Armenian government appealed to the International Court of Justice with a request to apply an interim measure in the case against Azerbaijan.
Armenia called on the UN court to confirm Azerbaijan's commitment to refrain from "any action directly or indirectly aimed at expelling the remaining ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh."
Yerevan expects Baku "to refrain from taking punitive measures against current or former political representatives or military personnel of Nagorno-Karabakh."
According to the latest appeal from Armenia, on September 19, Azerbaijan, in violation of the truce, committed aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and targeted the civilian population. As of September 27, tens of thousands of Armenians left their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan asked to postpone the hearing scheduled for October 12, but the court decided to maintain the established schedule.
The representative of Armenia speaks during the morning hearings. The representative of Azerbaijan will speak in the afternoon hearings, the hearings will begin at 4:00 p.m., 2 hours each.