A regular session of the RA government was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Before discussing the session’s agenda, the Prime Minister gave a speech in which he referred to the satisfaction of Armenia’s request by the International Court of Justice to apply temporary measures regarding the unblocking of the Lachin Corridor.
In his speech, Nikol Pashinyan noted.
“Dear participants of the government session,
Dear people,
As you know, in connection with Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, in December of last year, the Republic of Armenia urgently applied to the International Court of Justice to use temporary measures within the framework of the “Armenia v. Azerbaijan” case, which is being examined within the framework of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, asking the court to oblige Azerbaijan to stop Illegal blockade of Lachine Corridor.
On January 4 of this year, Azerbaijan presented a mirror claim against Armenia, which was related to the alleged placement of mines by Armenia.
The court published its decisions yesterday, satisfying Armenia’s claim and rejecting Azerbaijan’s claim. In a legally binding decision, the court ordered Azerbaijan to take all measures to guarantee the uninterrupted movement of citizens, vehicles, and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor. The court emphasized that its decision creates a binding legal force for Azerbaijan.
Dear Colleagues,
This is a critical decision, the purely legal interpretation of which has been addressed by expert lawyers. Still, I would like to address this decision’s political impact and significance.
The International Court of Justice recorded that the Lachine Corridor is closed from December 12, 2022. This may seem like a strange record to our public because the Lachin Corridor’s closure is evident to us all. Still, in all international instances, Azerbaijan claimed that Lachin Corridor is not closed. How much the representatives of the international community believed is another question. But with this, Azerbaijan’s practice of misleading the international community was recorded, and the world’s highest court recorded it.
The second important circumstance is that the court recorded the responsibility of the Azerbaijan state for the closure of the Lachin Corridor, essentially not considering the closure of the corridor by eco-activists seriously, and obliged Azerbaijan itself to open the gallery.
In the following protocol, the court reaffirmed the position of the Republic of Armenia that according to the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, the Lachin Corridor should not be under the control of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is obliged by the same document to guarantee the safety of the movement of citizens, vehicles, and cargo through the Lachin Corridor from Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia and from Armenia. To Nagorno-Karabakh, the Lachin Corridor should be controlled by the Russian Federation peacekeeping force. The court recorded that this is Azerbaijan’s obligation, the international obligation.
Another important circumstance is that the court recorded the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh entity by the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, and, accordingly, the information and its provisions. Among them, Nagorno Karabakh and the existence of the contact line were given international legal significance.
At the same time, the court noted that as a result of the closure of the Lachin Corridor, the supply of food, medicine, and other essential goods to Nagorno-Karabakh was disrupted, ethnic Armenians’ access to several vital medical services was limited, thus confirming the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The court considered that Armenia did not provide sufficient evidence that Azerbaijan was to blame for the interruption of natural gas and electricity supplies in Nagorno-Karabakh. Of course, the reason for such a situation is that the pipeline valve supplying gas to Nagorno Karabakh is located in a place inaccessible to Armenia. The same can be said about the power cut-off point. Here, Armenia could not present direct, irrefutable evidence. But this also means that the moment we can obtain direct proof, we will be able to go to court again on that basis, and the likelihood that the court will grant this claim as well will be high. At the moment, however, the gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh is fully implemented.
Dear participants of the government session,
Dear people,
I have already said that the International Court of Justice unequivocally and unequivocally rejected Azerbaijan’s request to apply a temporary measure against Armenia, by which Azerbaijan accused Armenia of some mining. Thus, we can record that the groundless accusations against Armenia about landmines, which have been spreading for several months on all international platforms, collapsed, which is extremely important.
Returning to Azerbaijan’s obligation to open the Lachin Corridor, established by the court, I would like to emphasize that Azerbaijan must make visible efforts and take measures to extend the Lachin Corridor. The very first and most primitive step could be, for example, calling on “eco-activists” from the highest echelons of power to open the Lachine Corridor. In any case, Azerbaijan’s lack of specific actions to extend the Lachin Corridor can and should lead to clear international consequences.
Thank you for your attention.”
