Armenia needs to immediately start implementing the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled that the country should avoid ethnic discrimination against Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijan's Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov said Wednesday.
Mammadov stressed that Armenia's attempt to make political gains by expecting harsh decisions against Azerbaijan in the international court had failed.
Underlining that many organizations, including the Interior Ministry in Armenia, reward those who consider Azerbaijan and Turks as enemies on social media, he said Azerbaijan filed a lawsuit in the international court about all these incidents.
"As a result, the court investigated these facts and imposed an obligation on Armenia to prevent all this," he said.
Reiterating that the ICJ can convey the issue to the U.N. Security Council if the decisions are not implemented, he said if Armenia does not implement the decisions of the court, it will face serious pressure.
He called on Armenia to implement the court's decision as soon as possible.
"The Republic of Armenia shall, in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, take all necessary measures to prevent the incitement and promotion of racial hatred, including by organizations and private persons in its territory, targeted at persons of Azerbaijani national or ethnic origin," the court said in a statement on Tuesday.
In September, the rivals each asked the ICJ located in the Peace Palace of The Hague to take steps against the other, pending the resolution of a full case that will take years.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27 last year, the Armenian Army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020, to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
The cease-fire was seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces withdrew in line with the agreement.
Prior to this, about 20% of Azerbaijan's territory had been under illegal occupation for nearly 30 years.
On Jan. 11 this year, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It included the establishment of a trilateral working group for Karabakh.
