Details added (first version posted on 15:54)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31
Trend:
Holding the so-called self-government bodies' election by the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh scheduled for September 13, 2015 is an open violation of international law and cannot have any legal force, said the statement of the Azerbaijani foreign ministry.
The separatist regime established by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is ultimately nothing other than the product of aggression and racial discrimination, said the statement.
This regime is under Armenia's direction and control and survives by virtue of its military, political, financial and other support, as was confirmed recently by the European Court of Human Rights in its judgement of June 16, 2015 on the case of Chiragov and others v. Armenia, according to the statement.
It is well known that Armenia unleashed war and used force against Azerbaijan, occupied almost one fifth of its territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts, carried out ethnic cleansing of the seized areas by expelling about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes and committed other serious crimes during the conflict, said the statement.
The international community has consistently deplored, in the strongest terms, the use of military force against Azerbaijan and the resulting occupation of its territories, as reflected in United Nations Security Council resolutions, thus rejecting any actions violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and refusing to recognize as legitimate the situation created through such actions, according to the statement.