Two patients have recovered, which takes the total number of the recovered to 33.
As of today, there are 663 confirmed coronavirus cases in Armenia.
2940 people have tested negative for COVID-19 so far.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 2
Trend:
Canada doesn’t recognize the so-called “elections” held in Nagorno-Karabakh, Trend reports citing a message on Twitter page of Canadian embassy in Turkey.
“Canada supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and doesn’t recognize the so-called “elections” held in Nagorno-Karabakh on March 31,” reads the message.
Such so-called “elections” undermine efforts, including by the OSCE Minsk Group, to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the embassy.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Thu 02 Apr 2020 12:50 GMT | 16:50 Local Time
“The so-called “elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh don’t serve that goal, nor can prejudice the determination of the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh, or the outcome of the ongoing negotiation process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro said in a statement,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement reiterated Montenegro’s firm support to the OSCE Minsk Group and its Co-Chairs efforts to bring about progress beyond the status quo and substantive negotiations towards comprehensive and sustainable peace.
Thu 02 Apr 2020 12:32 GMT | 16:32 Local Time
On March 31, 2020, the so-called “presidential and parliamentary elections” took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, read the statement.
In this context, the Czech Foreign Ministry underlines that the Czech Republic does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework within which these so-called “elections” were being held, according to the statement.
The statement also expressed the full support by the Czech Republic to the activity of the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chairs and calls on parties involved in the conflict for further peace processes, and supports the statement of UN Secretary-General of March 23, 2020, calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world, reads the document.
Thu 02 Apr 2020 11:08 GMT | 15:08 Local Time
The statement reads:
On April 2, 1993 the Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan was occupied by armed forces of Armenia. Kalbajar located beyond the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan was occupied as a result of an offensive operation mainly carried out from the territory of Armenia by use of heavy weaponry, Mi-24 helicopter gunships and advanced fixed-wing aircrafts of Armenia.
As a result of the occupation, up to 60.000 inhabitants of Kalbajar were subjected to ethnic cleansing and expelled from their native lands, 511 innocent civilians were killed, 321 persons were taken hostage or went missing. Currently, more than 70,000 Kalbajar residents are temporarily residing in different regions of Azerbaijan as internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Armenian occupation destroyed the rich historical-cultural heritage of Kalbajar.
The original architectural features of cloisters belonging to the ancient Albanian Christian heritage of Azerbaijan and having no connection with the Armenian Church were changed and armenianized.
Natural mineral resources of Kalbajar are subject to illegal exploitation. Armenia, in blatant violation of the international humanitarian law, transfers settlers of Armenian origin to the occupied Kalbajar district, with a view to change demographic features of these territories.
In response to the occupation of the Kalbajar district, on 6 April, 1993 UN Security Council adopted Resolution 822, which reaffirmed “the inviolability of international borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for the acquisition of territory” and “demanded immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from the Kalbajar district and other recently occupied areas of Azerbaijan”. Following the adoption of this, the CSCE Minsk Group worked out the “timetable of urgent steps” to implement the resolution.
Armenia until now continues to disregard the implementation demands of the UN SC resolutions.
Escalation of the situation along the line of contact on April 2, 2016 as the result of attacks by the armed forces of Armenia on settlements densely populated Azerbaijani civilians with heavy weapons once again demonstrated that the illegal presence of armed forces of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan remains a major threat to regional peace and security. In response to the attacks of Armenia, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have taken countermeasures, which resulted in providing security for the Azerbaijani civilians residing in close vicinity of the line of contact through the liberation of strategically important territories and heights from occupation.
Armenia has to understand that the occupation of Azerbaijan’s lands, including Kalbajar district is temporary. Armenia is responsible for all the illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and sooner or later the aggressor state will respond for its unlawful actions.
The Armenian side must cease its policy of annexation and ethnic cleansing, and comply with its international obligations, as well as the demands of the UN SC resolutions and decisions of other international organizations.
The only way to achieve a durable and lasting peace is to ensure the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the exercise by the forcibly displaced persons of their inalienable right to return to their places of origin in safety and dignity.
Thu 02 Apr 2020 15:19 GMT | 19:19 Local Time
Headlined “Elections” in occupied territories of Azerbaijan a violation of international law-Azerbaijan”, the article analyzes the country’s Foreign Ministry’s statement on the so-called “elections”.
The article reads: “The recently-held “elections” in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Tuesday constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, said Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In a statement made available to Bernama on Thursday, the ministry said that these include the United Nations (UN) Charter, CSCE Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and the related UN Security Council Resolutions and, therefore, the “elections” (“presidential and parliamentary”) in the Nagorno-Karabakh region shall have no legal effect whatsoever.
The ministry pointed out that the international community has unequivocally and consistently rejected the previous “elections” orchestrated by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and thus, clearly invalidated whatever pretexts that Armenia cynically uses to justify its overt disrespect to international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as well as the human rights of the expelled population of the occupied territories.
The ministry further said that the international community has consistently deplored in the strongest terms the use of military force against Azerbaijan and the resulting occupation of its territories.
In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), condemning the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan and reaffirming respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally-recognized borders, it said.
“In those resolutions, the Security Council also confirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an integral part of Azerbaijan, and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Other international organizations have adopted a similar position,” it said.
The ministry said that elections in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan may be held only within the Constitutional framework of the Republic of Azerbaijan and full participation of the entire population of the region.
“Any election will be possible only after the withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces, return of the expelled Azerbaijani population to their places of origin, and restoration of dialogue and cooperation between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of the region,” it said.
The Azerbaijan Foreign Affairs Ministry reiterated that resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is possible only on the basis of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders.
“The military occupation of the territory of Azerbaijan does not represent a solution and any attempt to impose fait accompli, including through organizing sham “elections”, will never produce a political outcome desired by Armenia, nor will it bring any positive perspective for this country. Azerbaijan will never reconcile with the occupation of its internationally-recognized territories,” it said.
The conflict between the two countries started in 1988 – three years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 – following Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
And in 1992, war broke out between the two former Soviet states, resulting in Armenia’s occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts. All these areas are internationally recognized, including Malaysia, as part of Azerbaijan.”