Azeri opposition staunchly opposed to Garabagh vote
The hard-line Azerbaijani opposition has vehemently opposed the
proposed determination of the status of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh,
an Azeri region under Armenian occupation, by holding a vote there,
claiming this would be a mechanism aimed at breaking the region
away from Azerbaijan.
In a joint statement, the country’s six radical opposition parties demanded that the Azerbaijani government turn down the principles that envision a referendum on the region’s status. They described as "unconstitutional and contradicting international law" the French mediator Bernard Fassier’s statement on determining Garabagh’s final status by holding a vote among the people who lived there prior to the 1990s war, in line with the conflict settlement outline dubbed the Madrid principles, and the foreign minister’s saying Baku supports the updated version of the document.
"The country’s Constitution forbids holding a referendum in a separate territory of Azerbaijan, and, according to the requirements of the UN resolution on [Armenian] occupation, the invading party cannot benefit from the consequences of occupation in any shape or form," the statement said.
The opposition claimed that if the government "continues its efforts at resolving Upper Garabagh’s final status through a referendum", it will call on the Azerbaijani people to launch protests, given what it described as a threat to the country’s territorial integrity.
The statement was issued by the ADP, Popular Front, National Independence, Liberal, Civil and Development, and Umid parties.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Thursday the final status of Upper Garabagh could be determined strictly by a nationwide poll. "If a referendum on Garabagh’s status takes place, it has to be held in the entire country’s territory, in compliance with Azerbaijan’s Constitution," Mammadyarov told the press.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the status of Upper Garabagh be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.*
In a joint statement, the country’s six radical opposition parties demanded that the Azerbaijani government turn down the principles that envision a referendum on the region’s status. They described as "unconstitutional and contradicting international law" the French mediator Bernard Fassier’s statement on determining Garabagh’s final status by holding a vote among the people who lived there prior to the 1990s war, in line with the conflict settlement outline dubbed the Madrid principles, and the foreign minister’s saying Baku supports the updated version of the document.
"The country’s Constitution forbids holding a referendum in a separate territory of Azerbaijan, and, according to the requirements of the UN resolution on [Armenian] occupation, the invading party cannot benefit from the consequences of occupation in any shape or form," the statement said.
The opposition claimed that if the government "continues its efforts at resolving Upper Garabagh’s final status through a referendum", it will call on the Azerbaijani people to launch protests, given what it described as a threat to the country’s territorial integrity.
The statement was issued by the ADP, Popular Front, National Independence, Liberal, Civil and Development, and Umid parties.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Thursday the final status of Upper Garabagh could be determined strictly by a nationwide poll. "If a referendum on Garabagh’s status takes place, it has to be held in the entire country’s territory, in compliance with Azerbaijan’s Constitution," Mammadyarov told the press.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the status of Upper Garabagh be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.*
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