International Law and the Nagorno–Karabakh War: Opinion on Political Aspects

The opinion report considers relations between international norms, Azerbaijan’s national legal system and political understandings of the NagornoKarabakh conflict. It discusses classification of Armenian actions in a context of the international law’s development and an impact of international regulations on national criminal codes. Therefore, it presents the Azerbaijani perspective on major political aspects of the Nagorno-Karabakh War and international response to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories. Moreover, it evaluates Armenian actions in the region with reference to the definition of genocide and international policy of its prevention. In general, the opinion report shows how the Azerbaijani society understands the conflict and how it may be classified on the basis of the Soviet law (as acts of terror has started in the late 1980s), the international law and the contemporary Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. As a result, it is not only a report that introduces the Azerbaijan’s perspective on the issue, but it can also be recognised as an interesting source to understand how the Azerbaijani people label actions of their neighbouring nation.