Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The separatist regime in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh continues to escalate the situation around the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, undermining international efforts to find the peaceful solution to the conflict.

The separatist regime staged next act of provocation by holding the so-called "elections to local self-governments” in the Azerbaijani territory, currently being under the Armenian occupation.

Illegal "elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh are an indicator of a hopeless situation into which the Armenian junta regime has fallen, Head of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev told reporters.

He believes that the fake "elections" openly demonstrate disagreements between the Armenian government and the so-called "regime" established in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

"These are just provocative acts, an indicator of a hopeless situation in which the junta regime has fallen. They resort to such provocations, using the confused Armenian community," he stressed.

Ganjaliyev believes that these provocations will yield no result.

Azerbaijani Community also appeals to the representatives of the international community who make illegal visits to Nagorno-Karabakh. "Of course, such visits have no legal basis," Ganjaliyev noted.

In turn, Rovshan Rzayev, Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, told reporters that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs must demonstrate a decisive stance in connection with the so-called "local self-government elections" held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Rzayev stressed that the co-chairs should clearly react to such provocations by the Armenians.

The whole world and all international organizations know that the ethnic cleansing policy has been carried out against Azerbaijanis living in Nagorno-Karabakh, and currently not a single Azerbaijani lives in Nagorno-Karabakh. A well-known fact is that Azerbaijanis expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh found refuge in Baku and 59 regions of the country, he said.

"I strongly condemn this and expect the Minsk Group co-chair countries to express their positions in connection with such actions," Rzayev concluded.

Baku strengthens the role of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh and wants to ensure equal access to negotiations of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in the region.

Karabakh’s Azerbaijani community must also participate while determining of the region’s legal status. The Azerbaijani Community, which as a result of ethnic cleansing was forced to leave their homes, has the legal right to participate in determining the future legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh. It becomes as a vital condition for a comprehensive and fair settlement of the conflict cannot be achieved.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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