APA, Azerbaijan
May 22 2010

Statement by Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan Republic

[ 23 May 2010 00:07 ]
Baku-APA. `Parliamentary elections’ are scheduled to be held on May
23, 2010 in Azerbaijan`s Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is under the
occupation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia.

APA reports quoting AzerTAc that the Azerbaijani community of the
Nagorno-Karabakh declares that these `elections’ constitute a grave
violation of the Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic, norms and
principles of international law, and do not take into consideration
the voting right of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh,
who are the region`s native residents.
Legitimate elections in the Nagorno-Karabakh region can be held only
after the Armenian Armed Forces withdraw from the occupied
territories, the Azerbaijani people return to their native lands and
peaceful co-existence of the region`s Azerbaijani and Armenian
communities is ensured.
Armenia, in contradiction with norms of international law and Charter
of the United Nations, and not honoring decisions on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict adopted by international organizations, has
repeatedly organized such `elections’ in the occupied territories of
the Azerbaijan Republic.
The whole world is aware that the unrecognized separatist regime in
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is an illegal structure which
was set up by Armenia after it conducted an ethnic cleansing of the
Azerbaijani people.
This is why international organizations, world countries do not
recognize the `elections’ in the Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenia has
been holding in order to conceal its policy of occupation.
By its illegal actions, the Republic of Armenia, has been striking a
severe blow to the ongoing peace talks in the framework of the OSCE
Minsk Group, initiatives of the international community to establish
peace and cooperation in the region and dialogue opportunities between
the communities.
The Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh hopes that the
international community will strongly condemn Armenia`s
non-constructive actions and take the most effective measures to force
Armenia to stop its policy of occupation.
We believe that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be settled on the
basis of norms of international law, that the Azerbaijani people will
return to their native lands and peaceful co-existence between the
region`s two communities will be ensured.