TURKEY SAYS KARABAKH LOCAL ELECTIONS “ILLEGAL”

Anatolia news agency
3 Aug 04

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan said on Tuesday (3
August) that Turkey considered municipality elections to be held in
Nagornyy Karabakh in August as illegal. Tan, in a written statement,
said that such kind of unilateral initiatives would not contribute to
efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem.

Tan said Nagornyy Karabakh problem was nowadays one of the main
elements of instability in southern Caucasia, and also continued to be
an obstacle in front of good neighbourhood relations and cooperation
in the region and integration of the region with the international
community.

Tan said: “It is obvious that municipality elections, scheduled to be
held in August in Nagornyy Karabakh, mean violation of basic rules of
international law and the charters of UN, Council of Europe and OSCE.

Tan said: “Turkey supported a solution within the scope of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and through peaceful means; and
many times, expressed its readiness to contribute to the efforts to
find a solution”.