AZERI MINISTRY CONDEMNS SEPARATIST KARABAKH PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Turan news agency
5 Jul 07
Baku, 5 July: The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has issued a statement
in connection with the conduct of the [19 July] "presidential election"
in Nagornyy Karabakh.
According to the Armenian media, the so-called presidential election
will be held in the Nagornyy Karabakh region of Azerbaijan on 19 July,
the document said.
"In this regard, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry repeats that the
unrecognized separatist regime on the occupied Azerbaijani territories
is nothing than an illegal structure set up by Armenia on the basis
of ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population," the statement said.
The so-called election is held to cover Armenia’s annexation policy
and is aimed at strengthening the ongoing occupation of the Azerbaijani
territories.
The conduct of the "election" of this kind seriously violates
provisions of the Azerbaijani Constitution, principles and norms of
international law as it is being held without the participation of
the region’s indigenous Azerbaijani residents and it will not have
a legal result, the document added.
Any election in Azerbaijan’s Nagornyy Karabakh region can be recognized
as fair and free should the displaced Azerbaijani people fully and
equally participate in them. Then a democratic atmosphere will be
created in the region. It is possible to hold these kinds of elections
after the Armenian occupying forces withdraw from the region, life is
normalized and necessary conditions are created for resuming a dialogue
and cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of
Nagornyy Karabakh.
These steps will facilitate taking measures to elaborate a model of
the Nagornyy Karabakh autonomy within Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry said.
The Republic of Azerbaijan calls on Armenia to stop its destructive
practice of illegal steps, which are unpromising, and show goodwill
and a constructive position in the negotiating process to find a
speedy and acceptable solution to the conflict on the basis of norms
and principles of international law, the Foreign Ministry said in
its statement.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
