Eurasia Review calls for cancellation of illegal elections in occupied Karabakh
By Akbar Mammadov
US-based think tank Eurasia Review has published an article calling for the cancellation of the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for March 31, 2020 in Azerbaijan’s Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The article says that the illegal regime set up in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabkah breakaway region will hold elections, despite the fact that the region is part of Azerbaijan.
“This unknown or little-known regime, strangely, will be hosting its presidential and parliamentary elections on March 31 in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic…No country, including its main patron Armenia, has recognized this republic,” the author of the article, Veeramalla Anjaiah, Jakarta Post correspondent said.
“It seems Armenia is desperate to legitimize its presence in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and make its occupation permanent by holding elections. Azerbaijan described the March 31 elections as a big “political drama” orchestrated by Armenia,” the article states.
The article also quoted Azerbaijan Ambassador to Indonesia Jalal Mirzayev as saying that the election in Karabakh “is a big political drama created by Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh is our land. Holding elections on March 31 in our land by Armenia is illegal and is not acceptable to us. We ask the international community to condemn Armenia’s actions that threaten peace…The illegal occupation and the upcoming illicit elections are blunt violations of international laws.”
The article notes that Armenia, which has its troops in Nagorno-Karabakh, will be sending 300 election observers to Karabakh despite the threat from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these observers may spread the coronavirus.
The author underlines that Armenians in both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh must realize that the occupation of Azerbaijan’s land, including Nagorno-Karabakh, did not bring any major benefits to Armenians.
“It brought only economic hardships and made their country heavily debt ridden. Hundreds of thousands of talented and skilled workers are leaving the country every year. Armenia is now one of the most militarized countries in the world,” he emphasized in the article.
It should be noted that head of Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh Tural Ganjaliyev's recently said that several members of the Armenian community (names were not disclosed for security reasons) of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan addressed him as an elected representative of the region and informed him about the increased cases of respiratory diseases in the Nagorno-Karabakh as well as the deplorable state of the health infrastructure and the lack of testing and medical personnel.
“They expressed concern that Armenia and the illegal regime are concealing cases of the coronavirus infection (COVID-19) from the population,” the chairman of the Azerbaijan Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev told the Trend news agency on March 25.
“As an elected representative, I urge the Armenian community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan to strictly observe personal hygiene rules, such as self-isolation and social distancing, to protect themselves from coronavirus. I am sure that after the end of the Armenian occupation, the Azerbaijani state will restore the health infrastructure in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of our country and both communities will be able to use the capabilities of a medical system meeting modern standards,” Ganjaliyev said.
Ganjaliyev is a member of Azerbaijan’s Parliament from Khankendi constituency.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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