Armenia's representative on international legal issues, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, denied Azerbaijan's statements in the International Court of Justice in The Hague that Armenia transports landmines through the Lachin corridor and places them near settlements, the Armenpress state news agency reported
YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2023) Armenia's representative on international legal issues, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, denied Azerbaijan's statements in the International Court of Justice in The Hague that Armenia transports landmines through the Lachin corridor and places them near settlements, the Armenpress state news agency reported.
Earlier, the International Court of Justice announced that it would hold public hearings on January 31 in connection with Azerbaijan's lawsuit against Armenia under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. During the hearings, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov stated that Baku had new evidence of Armenia mining Azerbaijani territory.
"Armenia has placed mines in its sovereign territory for purely defensive purposes, taking into account repeated acts of aggression by Azerbaijan. Armenia does not place mines outside its sovereign territory, especially in civilian areas, and does not attempt to target citizens based on race," Kirakosyan said as quoted by the news agency.
"Azerbaijan collected the mines it is complaining about from the sovereign territory of Armenia, which was occupied by the Azerbaijani armed forces in 2021-2022. Therefore, Azerbaijan is trying to create a false evidence base based on the mines it collected after its illegal acts of aggression to justify its claim. This claim is groundless. I hope that the Court will not allow Azerbaijan to abuse the court proceedings by trying to take advantage of the consequences of its own illegal actions," he said.
