Interview by AZERTAC with Mr Fuad Alasgarov, Director of Department for Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies of the Administration of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

- European Court of Human Rights has delivered its judgment in Chiragov and others v. Armenia. What were the procedure and the participation of the Government of Azerbaijan in the proceedings?

- In April 2005 IDPs from Lachin district of Azerbaijan – Mr Elkhan Chiragov, Mr Adishirin Chiragov, Mr Ramiz Gebrayilov, Mr Akif Hasanof, Mr Fekhreddin Pashayev and Mr Qaraca Gabrayilov lodged an application with the European Court, alleging that they were prevented from returning to the district of Lachin in territory occupied by Armenia, that they were thus unable to enjoy their property and homes located there and that they had not received any compensation for their losses.

I should like to note that we have started to take measures necessary for defence of the rights of IDPs and refugees in the European Court from the day of ratification by the Republic of Azerbaijan of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, i.e. well before the communication of the application to the respondent Government. We have collected sufficient evidences concerning Armenia`s policy of expansionism and its military, economic, political, administrative and other support to illegal regime in Nagorno-Karabakh. To make our submissions to the European Court of extremely precise and reliable we cooperated with world famous specialists in international law British lawyers Sir Ian Brownlie CBE QC FBA and Professor Malcolm Shaw QC and Dr Gabriel Lansky from Austria.

This, however, does not mean that there were no lawyers of this level in Azerbaijan. Cooperation with authoritative lawyers having much experience in appearing in the European Court and well known in the international law community has strengthen certainty in our victory.

The Government of Azerbaijan has submitted relevant documents and materials to the European Court as a result of collaboration of Azerbaijani and foreign lawyers.

- What issues have been resolved in the European Court`s judgment?

- One of the features of this case related to Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, i.e. international conflict, is that violation of the applicants` rights occurred on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. However, responsibility for those violations bears the Republic of Armenia which has occupied part of the Azerbaijani territory. Therefore, for the European Court to find violation of the applicants` rights it was necessary, at the outset, to prove that Armenia exercises effective control over occupied territories.

Latest judgment of the European Court indicates that Armenia exercises effective control not only over the district of Lachin, but Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding districts. With reference to the 1907 Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land the Court noted that notion of effective control in fact denotes belligerent occupation. Thus, Armenia`s occupation of the Azerbaijani territories has been proved in the Court`s judgment.

Before coming to this conclusion the European Court has established that the illegal regime in Nagorno-Karabakh survives by virtue of military, political, economic, financial, administrative and other support by the Republic of Armenia. While Armenia submitted that Nagorno-Karabakh has its own army, the European Court has stressed that Armenian army operates on the territories under occupation. Moreover, extension of jurisdiction of the Armenian courts on these territories has been established in the judgment. Thus, Armenia bears full responsibility for the events occurring on the occupied territories.
After the Armenia`s jurisdiction over the matters complained of has been established, the Court found violation of the property rights, the right to home and the right to an effective remedy of the Azerbaijani IDPs. The European Court has confirmed the Azerbaijani nationals` rights to return to their homes, to enjoy their property and lands.

Furthermore, the European Court has found that violations of the applicants` rights relate to a general situation which involves the flight of practically all Azerbaijani citizens from Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories and their inability to return to these territories. While the Court considered that no separate issue arouse under Article 14, it admitted that the applicants` complaint under Article 14 of the Convention were intrinsically linked to the other complaints.

- What will be an impact of the judgment for Azerbaijan and for resolution of the conflict, in general?

The European Court has delivered its judgment on merits of the applicants` complaints, but left the question of just satisfaction to a later stage. It held that this question is not ready for decision, albeit applicants have submitted their claims for just satisfaction. In this connection the Armenian Government and the applicants have been invited to submit, within twelve months, their written observations on the matter.

Despite this fact I am of the opinion that this judgment of the European Court has put an end to Armenian`s fictional claims. Now, Armenia may not tell that “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” survives independently and that Yerevan is not responsible for the former`s acts. Final judgment of the international court has binding legal force and no international organisation or any State may deny it.
The European Court in its judgment established that the Republic of Armenia through its Armed Forces occupied Azerbaijani territories and pursues policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, and held that the Republic of Armenia is responsible for that situation persists to this day. It is confirmed that there are only two sides in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Moreover, since the Court`s judgment is final, it now comes within the competences of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, concerning oversight over execution of the Court`s judgments. This means that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is included in the agenda of this structure and will be in the agenda of the Council of Europe regardless of political views or considerations of any Member-State. This is also true in respect of other organisations.

The European Court`s judgment is an important step towards elimination of double standards with respect to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In his speech at the official reception on the occasion of the Republic Day, H.E. Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan noted that the main problem of our foreign policy is the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and stressed that, despite the heinous attempts of the Armenian lobby, our policy of recent years has proved that Nagorno-Karabakh is native and historical Azerbaijani land and recognized by the international community as an integral part of Azerbaijan.

Sure enough, the European Court`s judgment showed the whole world that our position is just and valid.
It appears that Azerbaijan`s this next in turn success drove again Armenian officials into panic. If its foreign affairs ministers calls on Azerbaijan not to speculate on this judgment, then he is afraid of the fact that this judgment becomes an important tool in the hands of Azerbaijan and acknowledges the fact that it meets Azerbaijan`s interests.

We will not content ourselves with this judgment of the European Court; we are going to continue our efforts aimed at protection and restoration of the rights of refugees and IDPs, and will achieve withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied lands.

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