Azerbaijan is trying to belittle significance of Armenian lawsuits with its claims – Siranush Sahakyan

Azerbaijan has filed its Statement of Claim with the Permanent Court of Arbitration against Armenia with allegations of violating its “sovereign rights towards energy resources”. Baku continues to demand compensation from Armenia for “violations of its sovereign rights to energy resources, the illegal exploitation, and damage caused to renewable energy sources in the Azerbaijani territories”. This refers to the activity of energy facilities on the territory of Artsakh.

Alpha News had a conversation on this topic with human rights activist Siranush Sahakyan.

“According to the information we have, the Azerbaijani side has contacted the world’s best companies and is trying to assess the damage, which is a rather complicated, expensive, and time-consuming process. However, it is quite clear that it may be about tens and hundreds of billions of dollars. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are represented by officials; for example, Armenia is represented by the Office of the Representative on International Legal Matters, and the Azerbaijani side is represented by the Foreign Minister. However, both states have involved international law firms and consultants, some of which are also affiliated with universities,” Sahakyan noted.

According to the human rights activist, Azerbaijan initiates lawsuits with unfounded claims, and their purpose is to belittle the significance of Armenian lawsuits.

“At this stage, it is too early to assess the chances, especially since the lawsuit has not yet become publicly available to independent researchers and experts. As a trend, I would like to note that Azerbaijan initiates lawsuits with unfounded claims, the purpose of which is to create a mirror image and belittle the significance of Armenian lawsuits. So far, the Armenian side is successfully conducting legal processes, and the latest ruling of the UN International Court of Justice, according to which all objections of Azerbaijan were rejected and two objections submitted by Armenia were accepted, became a vivid proof of this. We are full of hope that the cases will be conducted as competently as before, and Armenia will be able to win on this platform, but defeat should not be ruled out either,” Siranush Sahakyan concluded.