Armenpress News Agency, Armenia Tuesday Irreversibility of strengthening Artsakh's statehood causes nervous reaction in Azerbaijan – Artsakh MFA YEREVAN, JULY 18, ARMENPRESS. The irreversibility of strengthening the statehood of Artsakh and its institutions causes a nervous reaction in Azerbaijan, Artak Nersisyan - Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh, told News.am, commenting on the statement of Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesperson who said the upcoming presidential election in Artsakh is an attempt to undermine the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, reports Armenpress. “As we have stated for many times, free, fair, transparent and competitive elections, as an integral part of ongoing political processes in Artsakh, aim at organizing the Republic’s public life and forming government through democratic means. They can in no way have a negative effect on the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at peacefully settling the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. This stance has been confirmed by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in their numerous statements. Moreover, the mediators also emphasized the role of the Artsakh people in determining their future within the frames of the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. We believe that elections are one of the ways to express the will of the people, therefore their holding is in accordance with the logic of the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Azerbaijan’s negative reaction to the political processes of Artsakh is caused not by the concern for the efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs which Baku itself hinders in any possible way, but the desire to exclude the very existence of Artsakh. It’s obvious that the irreversibility of strengthening the statehood of Artsakh and its institutions causes nervous reaction in Azerbaijan. Moreover, Azerbaijan’s rejection of the objective reality is one of the main obstacles for the settlement of the conflict”, Artak Nersisyan said.