Yeghishe Kirakosyan, Armenia’s representative for International Legal Matters, responded to Azerbaijan’s false claims in The Hague that Armenia is transporting landmines through the Lachin Corridor and placing them near settlements.

As ARMENPRESS reports, Yeghishe Kirakosyan mentioned during the discussion of the lawsuit presented by Azerbaijan against Armenia at the UN International Court of Justice that Baku collected these mines from the sovereign territory of Armenia.

“Armenia has placed mines in its sovereign territory for purely defensive purposes, taking into account repeated acts of aggression by Azerbaijan. Armenia does not place mines outside its sovereign territory, especially in civilian areas, and does not attempt to target citizens based on race. Azerbaijan collected the mines it is complaining about from the sovereign territory of Armenia, which was occupied by the Azerbaijani armed forces in 2021-2022. Therefore, Azerbaijan is trying to create a false evidence base based on the mines it collected after its illegal acts of aggression to justify its claim. This claim is groundless. I hope that the Court will not allow Azerbaijan to abuse the court proceedings by trying to take advantage of the consequences of its own illegal actions,” Kirakosyan said.

According to him, Azerbaijan’s demand is another obvious attempt to divert attention from its misdeeds. Kirakosyan emphasized that Azerbaijan submitted its claim only 6 days after Armenia’s claim against Azerbaijan, despite the fact that most of its alleged evidence has been in its possession for months.