Pashinyan Agrees to Withdraw Lawsuits Against Azerbaijan in International Courts

Washington — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday indicated his willingness to withdraw international legal complaints against Azerbaijan as part of ongoing peace talks when he addressed the Atlantic Council as part of his delegation trip to Washington.
Last month, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan publicized the the so-called remaining issues to be ironed out with Yerevan as the two countries seek to finalize a peace deal. He said that one of the points was to mutually abandon any legal complaints pending in international courts and to refrain from introducing new ones.
Pashinyan statement on Tuesday confirmed that he and Aliyev had agreed on 15 of 17 articles of a peace agreement, with the relinquishing of legal claims and the withdrawal of European monitoring mission the last points of contention.
“Another article [is] about the complaints against each other in legal institutions. And the idea is to call back all those complaints. In general, we are okay with that idea as well. But what is our proposal? Not only to call back all these complaints, but not to raise all those issues in bilateral relations as well,” Pashinyan said during the Atlantic Council presentation in response to a question on the unresolved articles of the draft peace agreement with Azerbaijan.
The event at the Atlantic Council was live-streamed on the organization’s site. Asbarez culled the footage featured in this report from the original live-stream, which was also aired simultaneously on several news channels in Armenia.
Pashinyan’s proposal to withdraw legal cases against Azerbaijan contradicts previous commitments to seeking accountability for war crimes, particularly during and after the 2020 war. These cases, filed at the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, address the unlawful detention and abuse of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian hostages, the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, and Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenian population.
Pashinyan’s suggestion that Armenia is willing to abandon efforts to raise conflict-related issues in its bilateral relations jeopardizes ongoing efforts in the U.S. Congress and legislatures worldwide to hold Azerbaijan accountable for the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.
This includes ending the impunity Azerbaijan has been afforded for its war crimes through efforts to impose sanctions on Azerbaijani officials, to suspend U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan, to ensure U.S. involvement in facilitating the release of Armenian hostages, and to advocate for the right of Artsakh’s Armenians to return to their homes consistent with international law.
“So our proposal is to end further discussions on the conflicting topics and to open a new era in bilateral relations starting from a new and empty and clear page,” Pashinyan emphasized.
By advocating for an “empty and clear page” in bilateral relations, Pashinyan appears to be abandoning legal mechanisms that hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions – undermining the rights of Armenian captives and displaced persons, and conceding to Baku’s demand for impunity.
Pashinyan’s comments at the Atlantic Council event – titled “A Conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan” echoed statements made last week in community meetings in Switzerland questioning the veracity of the Armenian Genocide – which was met with widespread condemnation.
Cases currently brought by Armenia against Azerbaijan and pending in international tribunals, such as the ICJ, will not hinder the peace process between the two countries, Armenia’s lead representative at international legal forums Yegishe Kirakosyan said last month, soon after Aliyev publicized the contentious points remaining the language of the peace agreement.
While saying that the details of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace proposals were the purview of the foreign ministries of both countries, Kirakosyan told reporters that the processes that are currently under review pertain to international conventions and laws.
“I don’t think that the legal disputes between the two countries can hinder the peace process. In my opinion, the point of legal disputes is to establish peace to some extent. When states initiate legal disputes, resolve differences in a civilized way, it also means preventing war,” said Kirakosyan.
Azerbaijan’s ongoing threats against Armenia, its occupation of sovereign Armenian territory, its recourse to hostage diplomacy, and demands for territorial concessions and changes to Armenia’s constitution undermine efforts to ensure a just, durable, and dignified peace in the region that upholds the fundamental rights of Artsakh’s displaced Armenian population. In indicating his willingness to abandon international legal and political efforts to hold Azerbaijan accountable, Pashinyan’s comments would jeopardize critical efforts to ensure the release of Armenian hostages, protect Artsakh’s ancient at-risk Armenian heritage, and uphold the fundamental right of return for Artsakh’s Armenians – in addition to undermining the security and sovereignty of Armenia in the face of Azerbaijan’s unabated aggression.