Azerbaijan is opening a new front against Armenia — but this one involves legal briefs and claims of environmental damage, not tanks and rockets, Report informs, citing Politico.
According to Politico, Azerbaijan's effort is the first ever inter-state arbitration under the Council of Europe's Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats: "Both countries are signatories to the binding international treaty, along with the EU and over 50 other countries, but it has never before been used to arbitrate ecological issues between two nations."
"Over the last two years, we have unearthed shocking evidence of environmental damage in the territories liberated in the 2020 war," Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister, Elnur Mammadov, told POLITICO. "There has been damage to animal life and biodiversity. There was and continues to be exploitation of natural resources and pollution from industry that harms our ecosystems to this day."
According to him, Azerbaijan isn't playing politics with its claim: "This is a serious effort to secure justice. We said after 2020 that we want to turn the page and deliver peace for the region, but we will also hold those responsible for past violations to account."