Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
The so-called election to the "parliament" of the puppet separatist regime planned to be held in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan on May 3, 2015 is illegal, spokesman for the Azerbaijani foreign ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said Feb. 27.
"The holding of "election" is a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, shall have no legal effect whatsoever," he said. "This "election" is aimed at undermining the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement."
"In 1993, the United Nations 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 the Republic of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally recognized borders," the Azerbaijani foreign ministry's statement says.
"In those resolutions, the Security Council also confirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is part of Azerbaijan, and demanded immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Other international organizations have adopted a similar position."
The Republic of Azerbaijan once again calls on the Armenian side, instead of wasting time and misleading its own people and the international community, to cease its policy of annexation and ethnic cleansing and to engage constructively in the conflict settlement process and comply with its international obligations, the statement says.
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, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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