Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to the OSCE has issued a statement to thank the EU member countries and the EU leadership for the position of non-recognizing the illegal “referendum” held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

In a statement issued on March 3, the mission also welcomed the recent statement of the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who stressed that the EU supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

Tusk also noted that the EU supports the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts to find the solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The so-called “constitutional referendum” was held on February 20 in Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is now ruled by a puppet regime controlled by Armenia.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, as well as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states, namely Russia, the U.S. and France, a number of other countries and organizations confirmed that they do not recognize the “referendum” in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims to Azerbaijan. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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