Azerbaijan’s appeal to the International Court of Justice in the case of application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) concerns the very essence of this document, in contrast to the claim of Armenia, filed on the same basis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elnur Mammadov said during the first round of oral arguments of the Azerbaijani side within the hearings on the case on the application of CERD (Azerbaijan vs. Armenia), Ednews informs.

Azerbaijan explained last week that the Armenian claim doesn’t fall within the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice because Armenia rushed to file the claim without giving a chance to negotiations, or largely because it misused the convention in an attempt to present other charges related to the armed conflict, he said.

According to Mammadov, Azerbaijan’s appeal concerns the very essence of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as it touches on the issue of 30 years of ethnic cleansing and the associated destruction by Armenia of the cultural and historical heritage of the Azerbaijani population in the former occupied territories.

Armenia has carried out a systematic campaign to expel the Azerbaijani population from their places of origin with the aim of creating a mono-ethnic Armenian population in this place. The facts and evidence presented by Azerbaijan regarding the targeted planting of landmines and environmental crimes are only part of this systemic and racially motivated campaign, the deputy minister added.