Passion for litigation – Armenia’s defeatist syndrome Foreign experts on Caliber.Az

Baku was pleased with the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the claim of Armenia, which, in turn, is clearly disappointed, given the moral support it has been receiving in the West lately.

Baku welcomes the ICJ decision in the case “Armenia v. Azerbaijan” on provisional measures to apply the International Convention on the Abolition of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) dated November 17, 2023. This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. The message emphasizes that the court's decision confirms the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and its sovereignty over Karabakh. “The court rejected the unfounded and absurd demand for the withdrawal of all military and law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan from the Karabakh region,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The measures indicated by the court take into account the already-stated policy of the Azerbaijani government towards the Armenian residents of Karabakh. This includes Baku's commitment to ensuring the safety and security of all residents of the region, regardless of their national origin. Azerbaijan has never evicted Armenian residents from Karabakh, and despite calls from Baku not to leave the region, they decided to move to Armenia by themselves, the Foreign Ministry notes.

The court did not require any measures to be taken for the UN and ICRC missions to visit Karabakh, which is a recognition of Azerbaijan’s international cooperation in this area. Azerbaijan protects private property, cultural monuments, artefacts, and registration documents in line with national legislation and international obligations. Thus, the fact that the court did not mention these topics is also a confirmation of the measures taken by Azerbaijan, the report said.

The court also defied Armenia’s request regarding investigative actions against representatives of the separatist regime. They were detained under the country's Criminal Code for separatism and support of terrorism.

I wonder what is the general meaning of such lawsuits against Azerbaijan, which Armenia continually submits to international authorities? After all, the reaction is predictable - even if there is some condemnation of any actions of Baku, this will not cause any special consequences for Azerbaijan in a practical sense. The country has restored its territorial integrity – this is its right. And the fact that the Armenians left Karabakh is also their right. No one drove them out of there, and no one is stopping them from returning home - Yerevan has no arguments against this, and international judicial structures also see this very well.

Well-known foreign observers decided to comment on this situation at the request of Caliber.Az.

Doctor of Military and Political Sciences, Professor Vakhtang Maisaya (Tbilisi) notes that from the ICJ decision, it is clear that, in line with international law, territorial integrity and state sovereignty remain the main priority for this authority.

“I would say that such attempts by Armenia can be qualified as evidence of a defeatist syndrome. It wants to somehow compensate for the failure it suffered in the military sense and in supporting the separatists of Karabakh,” the expert said.

The professor believes that the approach to separatism is changing from now on.

“The separatists are no longer considered freedom fighters, this was confirmed by the ICJ when it deflected Yerevan’s demand to release those separatist leaders who were arrested during the September anti-terrorist operation of the Azerbaijani Army in Karabakh. I think aggressive separatism has already been recognized by the international community as one of the types of asymmetric threats. And the current ICJ decision is a confirmation of this, too. This, by the way, is a good signal for other countries that are still experiencing problems with territorial integrity. First of all, I mean my own country, Georgia.

And I would add that this verdict of the ICJ can be considered the final act of returning Karabakh to the fold of the Azerbaijani state,” concluded Maisaya.

“I see that using international legal tools, Armenia is trying to use them to achieve its political goals in Karabakh,” said Greg Simons, PhD (Sweden), in turn.

According to him, it is obvious that the Armenian armed forces lack the necessary capabilities to ensure compliance with the will and policies of Yerevan.

 “Given the recent apparent politicization of the ICJ and the recent arrest warrant against President [Vladimir] Putin on very dubious legal grounds, Armenia may have hoped that a similar politically motivated legal decision could be made in its favour, given the country's apparent shift to the West under Pashinyan. However, this time the symbolic “victory” eluded them,” stated the Swedish expert.