International Court of Justice decision yet another wake-up call for Yerevan Armenia's unlearned lesson

Hopes and plans of official Yerevan, pro-Armenian organisations, and numerous lobby groups in Western nations as well as in Russia to step up their anti-Azerbaijani campaign through international mechanisms have again suffered a crushing defeat, and intriguingly at the hands of the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ).

What is interesting is that Kirill Gevorgian, an ethnic Armenian lawyer, representing Russia in his capacity as the vice-president of the ICJ, apparently failed to influence the decisions of the court members in favor of his co-brothers given the solidarity of Armenians around Karabakh issue worldwide.

In a nutshell, the ICJ has recognized Azerbaijan's sovereign right to establish a border checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin road.

On July 6, the International Court of Justice rejected Armenia's petition, dated May 12, 2023, to amend the decision of this structure, dated February 22, 2023, in the case "Armenia v. Azerbaijan", which concerned the situation on the Lachin road.

"We welcome the court decision confirming Azerbaijan's right to control its borders and proving Armenia's demand to eliminate the border checkpoint as unfounded," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

The incorrect interpretation by Armenia of the latest court decision is nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from the impasse in which it found itself, official Baku further underscored.

Azerbaijan's decision to establish the border checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin road is its sovereign right to protect its borders. This decision arose due to the need to stop the illegal flow of weapons, military equipment, and military personnel to the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, which threatens the security and peaceful prospects of the country.

"In addition, since the establishment of the checkpoint, local residents of Armenian origin pass through it without discrimination within the framework of Azerbaijan's domestic and international obligations," the ministry further added in the press release.

Azerbaijan fulfills the decision of the UN International Court of Justice and its international legal obligations and will continue to take all necessary measures to hold Armenia accountable for its persistent and historically serious violations of international law, the Foreign Ministry added.

Azerbaijan mounted the Lachin checkpoint on April 23, 2023, on the bridge over the Khakari River in Lachin District.

The ICJ verdict is the triumph of justice, and without exaggeration, it makes nations, ill-treated at certain periods of history struggle for integrity, morality, and high principles though they often come at high cost.

The role of Azerbaijani diplomacy along with other relevant agencies should also be highly appreciated as they worked hard to provide the UN court with convincing and indisputable proof to turn down Armenia’s years-long baseless claims against Baku.

Yerevan's hope to get international support for 30-year-long occupying and aggressive policies in tandem with powerful lobby groups, financed by the Armenian diaspora, once more collapsed.

Armenia must come to terms with the realities on the ground and learn a bitter lesson from the crushing defeat of the 44-day Second Karabakh War by shaking Azerbaijan’s hand and accepting fair terms for a peace treaty. However, what is obvious at this point following over two years after the war, Armenia does not want to abide by obligations and norms of peaceful coexistence in the South Caucasus.

At a time when the strong-arm tactic is often exploited in inter-state relations, Azerbaijan is absolutely right to apply the policy of force to coerce Armenia into agreeing with the outcome of the Karabakh War of 2020.

Armenia has to bite the bullet and reconcile itself to the verity that not all issues would be resolved in international instances exclusively in the interests of this tiny and "long-suffering” nation. Moreover, Armenia was seriously inspired by the previous decisions of international courts - so much so that they did not bother to delve into what was decided recently.

This is another wake-up call for Armenia that unless it agrees to the peaceful resolution of disputes with Azerbaijan and meets Baku’s just and right demands, nothing good is foreseen for it in the era of high tension when it is easy and widely applicable to get coerced into meeting obligations militarily. At the moment, Azerbaijan’s military might and power are capable of resolving the problems immediately.

As the court states, and this principle is also enshrined in Azerbaijan’s constitution, the government is responsible to the nation to ensure the fundamental norms of international law, fully protect its borders and control the flow of people and goods, which have been done. At the UN level, the legitimacy of the Lachin border checkpoint and the control measures carried out there has been confirmed.

This is already a court decision, providing Azerbaijan with rights and obligations to put into order, secure the inviolability of the national borders, and be conducive to universal security by preventing arms, and drug trafficking. It is Yerevan’s problem to decide whether to live or not in peace with Azerbaijan and other regional nations, and Azerbaijan is no anymore a weak state of late 1990. The nation has gone through daunting hurdles, human and material losses and is now determined to eliminate any problem with the national security needs and strangle evil at its birth.

The court decision renders meaningless all the demonstrative tantrums and cries of the representatives of Yerevan about the "blockade" with all the consequences for the Yerevan revanchists and their Khankandi puppets.

The Armenian political establishments have always been after injustice and seizing alien lands by stabbing neighbors when they get into trouble. This has always been the case and since the early XIX century when Armenians were relocated to Azerbaijan’s Karabakh, they launched a crawling policy of occupying Azerbaijani lands by various means under both the Tsarist, Soviet Russia, and are trying to do so now.

When the Soviet Union demised, they found Azerbaijan weak and unprepared in the face of Armenia’s occupation and succeeded in seizing and retaining under control some 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territories for nearly 30 years. Throughout those years, Azerbaijan did not lose hope for the liberation of the occupied lands, and finally, managed to overcome the brazen aggression and liberate the lands militarily.

As time passes, Azerbaijan better realizes the significance of the holy liberation war since the recent regional and global developments once again indicate that no nation can secure and guarantee its security at the expense of others though bitter, Armenia does it and never gets tired of knocking at Macron’s door for help. However, it would be highly advisable for Armenia to learn co-existing side by side with neighbors and enjoy the principles of good neighborliness. Alas…

The time when Azerbaijan was waiting for justice to be served by international organisations has gone long ago and the nation is learning how to live and defend its national interests and this will always be the case. Armenia, for its part, forgets that the failure to abide by the obligations would pave the way for new coercive methods, and neither Macron’s lullabies, Maria Zakharova’s kaleidoscopic remarks nor the European Commission’s unfair legislations would alter the state of affairs on the ground.

As the maxim goes, the law is the king but Armenia with all its powerful backers in the person of sitting duck Emmanuel Macron is not the law and will never be.