At the International Court of Justice of the United Nations, where Armenia’s claim against Azerbaijan was examined, Professor Pierre d’Argent, representing Armenia’s interests, stated: “Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh are victims of ethnic cleansing, and whether Azerbaijan likes it or not, it is not possible to call it otherwise.
Azerbaijan will tell you that Armenians left Nagorno-Karabakh by their own will and that myth, the fairy tale is unimaginable, even President Aliyev realizes this and because of that he invented a new fairy tale.
According to his usual practice of blaming someone else, he now claims, as the press release of the presidential office says, “the regime forced the Armenians to leave.” In this myth, when the executioner blames the victim for his suffering, you will probably hear that tale again today. Azerbaijan is doing everything to make the current situation worse for ethnic cleansing.
The day after the aggression, Aliyev said Azerbaijan has restored its sovereignty. At the same time, Nagorno-Karabakh was being emptied of Armenians. Aliyev soon announced that they are implementing the so-called “great return” plan, so to speak, this caused a shock.
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That is a racist program, aiming to replace the Armenians uprooted from their homeland with Azerbaijanis.” Professor d’Argent noted that at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the overwhelming majority of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was ethnic Armenians, 85%; now, only a few people are left. He addressed the members of the court.
“Do you believe that the destruction of the 1915 Armenian Genocide monument after the so-called “liberation” is just a result of bad taste, or what happened in Shushi in early 2021, which I presented during the application of the first conditional interim measure, it is exceptional and has never been repeated in Karabakh?
The Baku regime categorically denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide. Do you believe that the recent destruction of a large cross near Stepanakert or the shooting of a 13th-century Armenian monastery with machine guns is merely a result of the soldiers celebrating the victory, or do you believe that the claims of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan that Gandzasar is Aghvan’s intern mistakes? Of course, no: This is not accidental; everything was clearly calculated; the only goal is to strengthen the ethnic cleansing of Armenians and send a message to Armenians that they are not happy about their presence there.”
He quoted from Aliyev’s words, “We do not deliberately raise the Azerbaijani flags; we know that there are civilian Armenians there, and we know about their fears.” The professor said: “This is how they admit that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are afraid of Azerbaijan. There is a shameful lie in that confession. “Azerbaijan raised its flags in Karabakh,” he said and showed the facts. Then he reminded that Aliyev, trying to correct what he said, changed the text of the decision in the Strasbourg court and stated that they meant that they did not raise their flag in Stepanakert. But once again, they cheated because the flag of Azerbaijan hangs on the most symbolic monument of Stepanakert. ”
Azerbaijan perceives your order as a concession, perceives it as a rejection of the Armenian mediation, which gives a green light to continue the policy. If you use vague measures, Baku will take advantage of it and complete the ethnic cleansing. If you wait until you decide “on the merits,” the ethnic cleansing will be complete. The following fact to consider when deciding is this: Azerbaijan’s promises and attempts to convince you that there is no need for an interim measure are not enough. The first reason why Azerbaijan cannot be trusted is that Azerbaijan’s word is not enough to return traumatized Armenians to their homes. If you think that speech is enough, you will have given a sinister help to the great work of President Aliyev.
The second reason Azerbaijan’s words cannot be trusted is that words and deeds differ. Consider the so-called commitments of Azerbaijan, which refer to prisoners of Armenian nationality. Azerbaijan has yet to say whether it intends not to settle Nagorno Karabakh with Azerbaijanis. On the contrary, they announced accelerating the “great return.”
In his letter dated October 2, he informed you that Azerbaijan guarantees that the Armenian residents of Karabakh will have the right to return. Pay attention to the words. On October 2, Karabakh was already emptied, and they said they would guarantee the rights of the few remaining Armenians. Is this enough to ensure the safety of the Armenians who fled Karabakh? Of course not, and Azerbaijan knows this well. Words are not chosen randomly.
The reintegration procedure proposed for the Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, which you will probably hear in the second half of the day, the Azerbaijani authorities requires them to be accounted for. “Azerbaijan can consider unaccounted-for apartments and property rights as willingly abandoned, and Azerbaijanis can manage them.”
Considering that Azerbaijan has repeatedly circumvented the Court’s orders, as was the case with the installation of checkpoints in the Lachine Corridor, Pierre d’Argent requested that Azerbaijan submit regular reports on the implementation of the Court’s orders, “If you want to guarantee the return of Armenian men and women who left their homeland to their homeland, you must demand that Aliyev regularly submit reports to you. The situation is very serious; there are risks with the future decision, and you must also do it to protect your reputation.”
Hripsime JEBEJYIAN
