Baku, Azerbaijan, March 10
By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:
Italy considers the upcoming "parliamentary election" in Azerbaijan's occupied territories as illegitimate, Italian Foreign Ministry told Trend on Mar.10.
"It is well known that Italy does not recognize the so-called Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh," said the country's Foreign Ministry. "Lacking any recognition of the constitutional and legal framework in which they will be held, the "parliamentary election" that has been announced for May 3 has as a consequence to be considered as null and void."
Earlier, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that the "parliamentary election" scheduled by the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh for May 3 is illegitimate.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev said that the upcoming "election" is the violation of Azerbaijani law and is aimed at undermining the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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 the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI
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