Armenia to pay Azerbaijani family 7.9 million euros in compensation after Karabakh conflict is finally resolved
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on June 16 issued its Grand Chamber judgments in the cases of Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan and Chiragov and Others v. Armenia. Arayik Ghazaryan, a lecturer at the Academy of Jjustice SNCO, says the ruling in the case of Chiragov and Others v. Armenia was a pilot verdict which serves as a guideline for other rulings. “But the ruling cannot be implemented unless there is a final decision on the Karabakh issue in the political domain,” he said adding that the resolution of the conflict might take many years. The case concerned the complaints by six Azerbaijani refugees that they were unable to return to their homes and property in the district of Lachin, in Azerbaijan, from where they had been forced to flee in 1992 during the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. In the applicants’ case, the Court confirmed that Armenia exercised effective control over NagornoKarabakh and the surrounding territories and thus had jurisdiction over the district of Lachin. The Court considered that there was no justification for denying the applicants access to their property without providing them with compensation. The fact that peace negotiations were ongoing did not free the Government from their duty to take other measures. What was called for was a property claims mechanism which would be easily accessible to allow the applicants and others in their situation to have their property rights restored and to obtain compensation. The applicants Elkhan Chiragov, Adishirin Chiragov, Ramiz Gebrayilov, Akif Hasanof, Fekhreddin Pashayev and Qaraca Gabrayilov are all Azerbaijani nationals. Mr Qaraca Gabrayilov died in 2005and was a resident of the Lachin region, which is now part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. His son has pursued the application on his behalf. All but Mr Hasanof now live in Baku. The family demands that Armenia pay them 7,9 million euros in compensation for the loss of their property.
