By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (Worthy News) – Azerbaijan on Monday in the Netherlands urged the top United Nations court to throw out a case filed by Armenia linked to the long-running dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Lawyers argued that judges do not have jurisdiction over the trial.
Monday’s procedures began amid a legal dispute linked to the long-standing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan that escalated into a 2020 war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region that left more than 6,600 people dead.
The enclave is within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994.
Armenia filed a case at the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 2021, accusing Azerbaijan of a “state-sponsored policy of Armenian hatred.”
The country claimed that hatred has led to “systemic discrimination, mass killings, torture and other abuse.”
Armenia’s case is based on an international convention stamping out racial discrimination. That agreement has a clause allowing disputes to be resolved by the World Court if bilateral negotiations fail to broker a settlement.
However, Azerbaijan urged the top United Nations court to dismiss the case on Monday.
NEGOTIATIONS URGED
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov told judges Monday that Armenia could not bring the dispute to the court in The Hague, as the two countries had not first engaged in serious negotiations.
“Azerbaijan considers its objections in this case imperative for the proper administration of international justice. Armenia’s application misuses…and tries to escape its obligation of a settlement of its dispute with Azerbaijan by way of negotiation before invoking the court’s jurisdiction,” he said.
He added that Armenia was, in his words, “firmly set on commencing these proceedings before the court and using the effect of these proceedings to wage a public media campaign against Azerbaijan.”
However, Armenia has vehemently denied wrongdoing.
It recalls that Azerbaijan waged a lightning military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh last year that resulted in the vast majority of the region’s 120,000 mainly Christian Armenians fleeing their homes.
In December, the two sides agreed to begin negotiations on a peace treaty.
Armenia’s prime minister said last month that the Caucasus nation needs to define its border with Azerbaijan quickly to avoid a new round of hostilities.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire that was to begin Friday afternoon, Worthy News learned.
At least 10 people, including four children, were injured in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. In southern Ukraine, the State Emergency Service reported that one person was killed and four others were injured in a separate Russian attack on the Odesa region.
President Donald Trump signed the temporary peace deal with Iran ahead of schedule Wednesday at the Palace of Versailles in France, kicking off negotiations over a final nuclear deal.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s statement following the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United States is being viewed by analysts not as an embrace of peace, but as a carefully crafted declaration that preserves Tehran’s revolutionary posture while allowing the regime to regroup.
The United States imposed new sanctions Thursday on individuals and entities linked to Hezbollah, accusing them of using political and financial influence to obstruct Lebanon’s peace process and delay the Iran-backed group’s disarmament.
Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on Moscow since the war began, hitting a key oil refinery and other targets around the Russian capital, leaving at least one person dead and numerous others injured, Russian officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Southeast Asian leaders in Kazan this week as Moscow moved to deepen ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and promote its vision of a “multipolar world order” aimed at countering U.S. global dominance.