AZERBAIJANI CEC: "ELECTION" IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH CAN NOT BE LEGITIMATE

Trend
Feb 5 2010
Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Central Election Commission stated that the "election",
which the separatist regime of the Nagorno-Karabakh plans to hold in
the Azerbaijani occupied territories, can not be legitimate.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s territory and the Azerbaijani
government did not order to hold the parliamentary elections. Thus,
this "election" will not be recognized as legitimate," CEC
International Relations Department Head Rovzat Gasimov told Trend News.

Feb.5, Head of the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" (NKR) Bako
Saakyan signed a decree to appoint the next elections to the National
Assembly of NKR May 23, 2010, Novosti Armenia reported.

He said, holding of any election in the Nagorno-Karabakh without the
Azerbaijani government’s order is illegal.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. –
are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.