Yeghishe Kirakosyan: European Court,UN Security Council have never  considered Armenia aggressor or occupier

ArmInfo. The European Court has never made a decision that Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, the  same applies to the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council, which are related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's Representative for International Legal  Affairs, stated  during a hearing at the International Court of Justice, where Azerbaijan's claim against Armenia was considered.

"The UN Security Council called on Armenia to continue to exert  influence to ensure the implementation of norms by the Armenians of  Artsakh, but never indicated that Armenia is an aggressor or occupier  country," he emphasized. Kirakosyan noted that the UN Security  Council appealed to local Armenian forces with a call on the parties  to resume the negotiation process within the Minsk format to resolve  the conflict.

Referring to the statement of the Azerbaijani president, he noted  that the latter said that "war is inevitable, and the OSCE Minsk  Group is dead." In addition, it was Ilham Aliyev who stated that  Azerbaijan started the second Artsakh war, and the Azerbaijani  representative in the Court did not deny this.  Kirakosyan emphasized  that Armenia was always ready to ensure the return of refugees on the  principles of reciprocity, but it was Azerbaijan that abandoned the  Minsk Group format. The representative of Armenia also drew attention  to the fact that the basic principles proposed by the co-chairs of  the Minsk Group concerned not only the return of refugees, but also  the return of the territories around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani  control.

According to him, the co-chairs also called on Nagorno Karabakh to be  granted an intermediate status that would provide guarantees of  security, autonomy and a corridor that would connect Nagorno Karabakh  with Armenia.  And the final legal status must be determined in the  future through an expression of will with international guarantees,  including the activities of peacekeepers.

Armenia's Representative for International Legal Affairs also touched  upon the accusations from the Azerbaijani side that Armenia allegedly  "did not provide access to Nagorno-Karabakh to UN departments and  other international organizations during the 'occupation'." In this  regard, Kirakosyan noted that such restrictions have never been  imposed by Armenia and Artsakh, moreover, the Azerbaijani side did  not provide any evidence of its accusation.

"Actually, Azerbaijan closed and continues to prohibit the entry of  UN representatives to Nagorno- Karabakh. In addition, they refused to  cooperate with the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in matters of  protecting the environment and water reservoirs," Kirakosyan said.

Back in December 2020, after the 44-day Artsakh war, the UNESCO  Executive Council decided that a fact- finding mission should be sent  to Nagorno-Karabakh to monitor the situation on site and the  condition of cultural heritage monuments. However, to this day the  mission cannot enter Nagorno-Karabakh due to the position of the  Azerbaijani side. The destruction of temples and other  historical-cultural heritage objects, as well as acts of vandalism,  can be recorded thanks to satellite images of international  organizations specializing in the preservation and protection of  cultural heritage, as well as through photos and videos posted on  various social media platforms by Azerbaijani users.

In particular, days earlier it became known that Azerbaijan destroyed  the Armenian cemetery of Ghazanchetsots in the city of Shushi in  occupied Artsakh. Even earlier, it also became known that Azerbaijan  had destroyed the village of Karin Tak near Shushi.