Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of ethnic cleansing at UN court

By Selman Aksunger

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AA) – Azerbaijan's officials on Tuesday accused Armenia of “ethnic cleansing" as a second case related to the conflict between the two countries opened at the UNs’ top court.

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said Armenia continues to lay landmines in Nagorno-Karabakh even after a cease-fire ended a six-week war in the disputed region late last year.

Last week, the International Court of Justice held hearings into a complaint brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan, also related to last year’s war that left more than 6,600 people dead.

The “campaign of ethnic cleansing and incitement to violence against Azerbaijanis is ongoing,” Elnur Mammadov told the court.

Azerbaijani lawyers argued that laying the mines is a continuation of Armenia's decades-long ethnic cleansing and part of an attempt to clear these areas from Azerbaijanis.

Azerbaijan and Armenia accuse each other of violating the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which both countries are parties.

The court, which did not go into the merits of the case during the hearings that ended today, will examine whether it has jurisdiction and can request interim measures.