Azerbaijan to sue Armenia for damages during occupation [UPDATE]

By Azernews

By Aisha Jabbarova

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan has launched legal procedures to take Armenia to international courts for damages inflicted on its formerly-occupied territories.

Aliyev made the remarks in an interview to the Azerbaijan Television on April 20.

“The process of calculating the damage caused continues. Foreign specialists are involved. As you know, our plans are to take Armenia to international courts. Naturally, we will do this and foreign experts will help us.

“Armenia and its foreign partners which illegally exploited our natural resources will face an international court because the plundering of our gold, copper and other natural resources, as well as their illegal exploitation by Armenia, are considered an international crime,” the president said.

It should be noted that Armenia looted Azerbaijan’s minerals during three decades of occupation with 155 precious metal deposits, including five gold deposits having been recklessly exploited without considering ecological ramifications.

Speaking about the reconstruction process in Azerbaijan’s newly-liberated territories, Aliyev said that master plans of all cities are being prepared and Aghdam will be the first city to be covered under this plan.

He reminded that the construction of the Fuzuli international airport is proceeding at a high pace with two other airports to be built in Zangilan and Lachin districts in the future.

Zangazur corridor

Speaking about the Zangazur corridor that will connect Azerbaijan proper with its Nakhchivan exclave through the Armenian territory, Aliyev said that it is being implemented whether Armenia wants it or not.

"Our main rival is time because the construction of a railway and a highway takes time. Therefore, all resources have been mobilized to implement this [Zangazur] project," Aliyev said.

The president said that any potential threat from Armenia will be eliminated immediately, saying that it’s a matter of national security for his country.

The opening of Zangazur corridor is stipulated by Close 9 of the November 10 trilateral statement signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. Under the peace agreement, Armenia must oversee the safety of the corridor. The November statement calls for reopening of the region’s economic and transport communications that had been blocked during the three-decades-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In a meeting in January 2020 in Moscow, the two countries’ leaders agreed to set up a working group to help open transport communications.

Furthermore, the president stressed that Azerbaijan is ready for cooperation with Armenia despite the fact that Armenia has destroyed Azerbaijan’s historical and religious sites in formerly-occupied territories and committed genocide against Azerbaijani people.

“We must look to the future,” Aliyev said.