Thursday, February 23 2023 12:05

ArmInfo.Artsakh President (Nagorno Karabakh) Arayik Harutyunyan hailed the World Court's judgment in the Armenia v. Azerbaijan case as a "turning point in our international struggle" and "another unobjectionable international  legal basis, implying that the people of Artsakh, subjected to racial  discrimination and hatred, cannot live within Azerbaijan".

"The UN International Court of Justice satisfied the demand of  Armenia a while ago and obliged Azerbaijan not to obstruct the free  movement of people, transport and cargo along the "Lachin Corridor"  in both directions. On behalf of the authorities and people of  Artsakh, I would like to express special gratitude to Yeghishe  Kirakosyan, representative on International Legal Matters of the  Republic of Armenia, to all those involved in this proceeding for  their most important mission. This decision is another  unobjectionable international legal basis, implying that the people  of Artsakh, subjected to racial discrimination and hatred, cannot  live within Azerbaijan. I consider this to be a turning point in our  international struggle, and together with the Republic of Armenia, we  will continue to use all the international legal mechanisms for the  protection of the rights of the people of Artsakh. The state bodies  of Artsakh have my clear instruction to support these efforts to the  maximum extent," Mr Harutyunyan stated. 

Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan has welcome the UN Court's  decision on indication of provisional measure against Azerbaijan.

The International Court of Justice today obliged Azerbaijan to take  all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons,  vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

"As I have often mentioned in my public speeches, the law is on our  side, and we can demonstrate with the help of various mechanisms that  our demands are just, and the international legal instruments are  important on that path," Vardanyan said in a Facebook post.

He expressed gratitude to the Representative of Armenia for  International Legal Issues, the whole team, all the people who have  done a great job present Artsakh's justified request of Artsakh  Armenians.

Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan welcomed the ruling by  the International Court of Justice. 

"It is gratifying and most important that the Court unanimously  rejected Azerbaijan's request against Armenia. It is strange and sad,  however, that the Court did not satisfy Armenia's request for  resumption of gas end electricity supply, as it did not find evidence  the disruption is caused by Azerbaijan. While we cannot provide  overwhelming evidence, as we have no access to the  Azerbaijan-controlled territories, including the sites where the  vitally important infrastructure is damaged. 

"In any case, I consider the first two rulings highly important and I  am grateful to the team led by Amenia's Representative for  International Affairs Yeghisheh Kirakosyan, the teams of lawyers and  all the people that contributed to the great success.

"The struggle is going on, and we must be able to consistently inform  the international community of Azerbaijan's crimes against the  Artsakh people," Mr Geghamyan writes.