1 February 2023
Armenia has released a map claiming to show the territory seized by Azerbaijani forces during clashes since the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
The map was presented on Monday during Armenia’s bid for interim measures against Azerbaijan at the at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This is the first time either side has given details of the extent of territory that Azerbaijani forces have taken control of within Armenia since the 2020 war.
The map shows territory within Armenia’s borders that the authorities claim to have lost during clashes in May and November 2021 and in September 2022. It includes swathes of land in southern and eastern Armenia.
In contrast to two previous major wars and sporadic fighting in and around the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the conflict that flared up between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2021 took place along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, with Azerbaijan encroaching into Armenian territory.
In September last year, the Azerbaijani army conducted a largescale incursion into Armenian provinces leaving hundreds dead. It was the deadliest escalation of the conflict since the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are currently seeking provisional measures against each other from the 15-judge ICJ, based in the Hague. The ICJ is the main judicial body of the United Nations, and the forthcoming judgements have binding force for UN member states.
The hearings at the ICJ, held on 30 January upon Armenia's recent request for provisional measures, focused on the ongoing blockade of the Lachin Corridor. Armenia requested that Azerbaijan be obliged to ‘cease its orchestration and support of the alleged “protests” blocking [the Lachin Corridor]’.
Azerbaijan responded with a demand to force Armenia to contribute to demining in the Lachin Corridor and areas Azerbaijan took control of during the 2020 war, as well as to stop laying additional mines in Nagorno-Karabakh. The court heard Azerbaijan’s appeal on Tuesday.
Since the Lachin Corridor was blocked by Azerbaijanis claiming to be ‘eco-activists’ over 7 weeks ago, Nagorno-Karabakh has been almost entirely cut off from Armenia and the rest of the world.
[Read on OC Media: Plastic flowers at a funeral: small-town life under blockade]
The latest hearing is part of a larger lawsuit at the Hague that Armenia filed against Azerbaijan in 2020, accusing the Azerbaijani government of racial discrimination against Armenians.
Azerbaijan submitted an almost identical countersuit, arguing that Armenia had violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
