News - Hate speech is one of root causes of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

Hate speech, animosity and hatred that are being spewed through social media, for us too, is one of the root causes of the conflict that we have, the RA Representative on International Legal Matters Yeghishe Kirakosyan stated at the 21st autumn meeting of the OSCE PA in Yerevan today, November 19. “This is very worrying. That's why Armenia has initiated a case at the ICJ (International Court of Justice) based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This is a key convention which prohibits the policies of racial discrimination, racial animosity towards specific groups, including ethnic groups,” he said. According to Kirakosyan, what Armenia faced in recent years is the result of decades-long enmity and propaganda of hatred, including from the political leadership of Azerbaijan. “That's the very sad reality that we live in. The cases that Armenia has brought before the International Court of Justice resulted in several interior [interim] provisional measures that were issued by the court. Specifically, the first one was issued by the Court back in December 2021, which was relating to the cessation and ending [of] the hate propaganda and hate speech by the public authorities of Azerbaijan, and relating to the preservation of the rights of the ethnic Armenians that are under the control of Azerbaijan and also the preservation of Armenian cultural monuments,” Kirakosyan noted.