Azerbaijan urges Armenia to renounce territorial claims, address war crimes

Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Elnur Mammadov, has outlined the country's key expectations from Armenia in the process of normalizing relations, urging Armenia to remove the primary obstacle to peace by legally renouncing its territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Mammadov made the statement at the high-level meeting of the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, emphasizing that such a legal renouncement, ideally through constitutional amendments, is crucial to facilitating reconciliation and lasting peace between the two nations, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

“Post-war rehabilitation requires the elimination of all negative consequences of the conflict, including bringing to justice those suspected of committing crimes,” Mammadov said.

He underscored that Azerbaijan has both the right and the obligation under international law to hold those accused of war crimes accountable, stressing that all procedural rights of the accused are being fully respected in line with international standards.

In addition to the call for Armenia’s constitutional amendments, Mammadov drew attention to another critical humanitarian issue: the fate of approximately 4,000 Azerbaijanis still missing following the First Karabakh War. He highlighted this issue as a matter of profound importance for Azerbaijan, particularly for the families and loved ones of the missing individuals who continue to endure uncertainty and suffering.

“We call on the UN authorized bodies and mechanisms to pay close attention to this issue and demand Armenia's full cooperation in clarifying the fates of the missing,” Mammadov said, reiterating Azerbaijan's strong commitment to resolving the matter. He called for the continued focus on this humanitarian crisis, urging that it remain high on the international agenda to bring closure to the affected families.

In his remarks, Deputy Foreign Minister, Elnur Mammadov, also accused Armenia of disregarding the rights of the Western Azerbaijanis, highlighting the failure of the Armenian government to engage in meaningful dialogue on the peaceful return of more than 250,000 displaced Western Azerbaijanis to their ancestral lands.

Mammadov emphasized that the forced expulsion of Western Azerbaijanis from their historical homeland, which now forms part of modern-day Armenia, represents a clear violation of international law. He reiterated that the Western Azerbaijan Community, once the largest national minority in Armenia, has repeatedly called for dialogue aimed at ensuring their safe and dignified return, yet these calls have gone unheeded by Armenian authorities.

"Western Azerbaijanis were expelled from their ancestral homeland, which is a violation of international law. Calls by the Western Azerbaijan Community to engage in dialogue to facilitate their peaceful return continue to be ignored. Moreover, their efforts are deliberately misrepresented by the Government of Armenia, claiming that Azerbaijan is making territorial claims. Baku is concerned about this and calls on the UN authorized mechanisms to consider this issue," Mammadov said.

By Vafa Guliyeva