Those Mines Were Collected by Baku from Armenia's Sovereign Territory: Yeghishe Kirakosyan's Response in The Hague

Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia's representative on international legal matters, responded in The Hague at the International Court of Justice during discussions on Azerbaijan's lawsuit against Armenia. He addressed Azerbaijan's false claims that Armenia is transferring mines through the Lachin corridor and placing them near populated areas. Kirakosyan stated that Baku has collected the mines from Armenia's sovereign territory.

“Armenia has placed mines on its sovereign territory solely for defensive purposes, considering the repeated aggressive actions by Azerbaijan. Armenia does not place mines outside its sovereign territory, particularly in civilian areas, nor does it attempt to target citizens based on ethnic grounds. The mines that Azerbaijan is complaining about were collected from Armenia's sovereign territory, which were occupied by Azerbaijani armed forces in 2021-2022. Therefore, Azerbaijan is trying to create a false evidentiary basis based on the mines collected after its illegal aggression in order to substantiate its application. This application lacks foundations. I hope the court will not allow Azerbaijan to abuse the court proceedings by attempting to benefit from the consequences of its own illegal actions,” said Kirakosyan.

According to him, Azerbaijan's demand is yet another blatant attempt to divert attention from its wrongdoings. Kirakosyan emphasized that Azerbaijan submitted its application just 6 days after Armenia's application, despite the fact that most of its alleged evidence has been in its possession for months.