Deputy Minister: 'Armenia did not enter into negotiations with Azerbaijan to resolve existing disputes'

Armenia did not enter into negotiations with Azerbaijan to resolve the existing disputes and could not continue the discussions held at a limited level, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elnur Mammadov, said during the public hearings held in the Hague on the preliminary objections raised by Azerbaijan in the case concerning the Application of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (by Armenia against Azerbaijan) at the International Court of Justice, Report informs.

According to Mammadov, Armenia's claims regarding breach of CERD contains groundless allegations regarding the ill-treatment of Armenian soldiers, military personnel, and civilians, as well as the arbitrary detention and disappearance of Armenians during the conflicts: "Such matters do not include the jurisdiction of the court under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This is a fundamental objection of Azerbaijan. All parts of Armenia's claims regarding CERD are procedurally flawed. Armenia intended to start these processes before the court and use the influence of these processes to conduct a public media campaign against Azerbaijan."

The deputy minister stated that Azerbaijan does not accept the alleged violations of international humanitarian law and other international human rights norms:

"Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has not hesitated to prosecute its citizens for relevant crimes. Most of the Armenian military servicemen and other prisoners captured during the Second Karabakh War have been returned to Armenia. Those who have not been returned are charged with war crimes, terrorism, and separatism."