United Nations Court Orders Azerbaijan to Let Armenians Back Into Nagorno-Karabakh

How useless is the UN?

Why would they announce something like this, that everyone knows they can’t possibly enforce?

Al-Jazeera:

Judges at the top UN court have said that Azerbaijan must allow ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh during an Azerbaijani military takeover to return to their homes.

In a decision on Friday, the International Court of Justice said that previous ethnic Armenian residents must be allowed back and that those who remained there must be kept safe.

“Azerbaijan must … ensure that persons who have left Nagorno-Karabakh after September 19, 2023, and who wish to return to Nagorno-Karabakh are able to do so in a safe, unimpeded and expeditious manner,” presiding judge Joan Donoghue said.

Azerbaijan captured Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as Azeri territory, after defeating separatist ethnic Armenian fighters in a lightning campaign in September. Since the assault, most of the region’s 120,000 ethnic Armenians have fled for neighbouring Armenia.

Almost all the Armenians left in around 2 weeks. The Azeris didn’t even have to do much.

Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing, while Baku has argued that it is seizing control of a breakaway territory whose status has been contested through several wars.

The court also stated that Azerbaijan must guarantee that those Armenians who remain in Nagorno-Karabakh “are free from the use of force or intimidation that may cause them to flee”.

It’s unlikely the Azeris are going to be honoring this ruling.

And of course, the Azeris have a connection to the Israelis, so no one can really stop them from doing whatever they want.

Azerbaijan might be looking into taking Armenia’s southernmost region next