Siranush Sahakyan: If Armenia drops interstate lawsuits, it will legitimize Azerbaijani “plunder”

Azerbaijan, understanding that the courts may make a breakthrough in this process and block the legitimatization of the Azerbaijani “plunder”, has begun to pressure the Armenian authorities into dropping interstate lawsuits. Siranush Sahakyan, representative of the interests of Armenian POWs at the ECHR, said this at a press conference.

“The viewpoint that Azerbaijan will drop its claims against Armenia as well is rather groundless, as the situation we are in is not symmetrical. If there were two-sided aggressions, two-sided crimes, invasions and ethnic exterminations, and both sides took an equal approach, this might be acceptable. However, we want to reach equal solutions in an unequal situation, which will inevitably give rise to injustice,” Sahakyan said, adding that as the damages are going to be substantial, we had better refrain from such processes.

She also noted that there are international courts where only states are eligible to go to.

“For example, individuals cannot be a side in the U.N. courts, and this will have a significant impact on legal processes. For example, individuals cannot file a complaint with the U.N. court on the forms of discrimination,” she said.