The lawsuit accuses Azerbaijan of glorifying racism and condoning hate speech against Armenians.
Azerbaijan has asked the United Nations' International Court of Justice to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of ethnic cleansing brought by neighboring and rival Armenia.
Azerbaijan's lawyers argued on Monday that the lawsuit does not meet the terms of the UN Convention against Discrimination on which it is based. They also argued that the ICJ lacked jurisdiction to rule on the issues contained in the complaint.
The two white nations have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh territory for 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ever since Baku overran it in a military operation in September, Yerevan has sought to draw international attention to its mountainous enclave.
The ICJ lawsuit filed by Armenia in 2021 accuses Azerbaijan of glorifying racism and condoning hate speech against Armenians and destroying Armenian cultural heritage. Mr Baku denied all allegations.
The incident stems from the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which left more than 6,600 people dead, and is one of three full-scale conflicts fought between the two sides over the issue.
“It's too early.”
The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has a clause that allows the ICJ to resolve disputes if bilateral negotiations fail.
Azerbaijan's representative Elnur Mammadov argued in court that the lawsuit was “premature” because Armenia was unable to “participate in negotiations with Azerbaijan aimed at resolving” the issue.
There were “limited negotiations” but Yerevan “failed to advance negotiations,” Mammadov said. “Armenia had its sights firmly set from the beginning to initiate these proceedings in court and to use the facts of these proceedings to develop a public media campaign against Azerbaijan.”
Stefan Talmon, a professor of international law who represented Azerbaijan, added that Armenia was “never given a chance to negotiate.”
He argued that “if there is no negotiation, no real attempt at negotiation, Armenia's application is basically terminated.”
Azerbaijan also argued that most of the allegations in Armenia's case fell outside the scope of the Discrimination Convention, meaning the court lacked jurisdiction.
Armenia is expected to respond to Azerbaijan's claims on Tuesday.
Azerbaijan has also filed a lawsuit against Armenia in court alleging violation of the treaty. A challenge filed by Armenia to the matter is scheduled to be heard later this month.
The 2020 conflict ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire agreement that granted Azerbaijan control of parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and some adjacent areas.
Azerbaijan then launched a surprise military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, resulting in the flight of most of the region's 120,000 residents.
In December, the two countries agreed to begin peace treaty negotiations. However, many residents of the Armenian border region resist delimitation efforts, believing that Azerbaijan is encroaching on what they consider their territory.
