Azernews.Az

The so-called "elections" due in Azerbaijan’s Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh region seek to cover up the annexation policy pursued by Armenia and are aimed at aggravating the results of the ongoing occupation of the Azerbaijani territories, the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry has said.
Armenian media have circulated reports saying Garabagh Armenians plan to hold "parliament elections" on May 23.
The Azerbaijani ministry said in a statement that the unrecognized separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan represents nothing but an illegal structure established by Armenia on the basis of ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijani population. Baku said conduct of such "elections" gravely violates Azerbaijan’s Constitution and the norms of international law, since they are held in absence of the indigenous Azerbaijani population of the Upper Garabagh region, and, therefore, will have no legal effect whatsoever.
"Any kind of elections in the Upper Garabagh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan may be recognized as fair and free once the expelled Azerbaijani population takes full, direct and equal part in their conduct in lawful and democratic environment equally to the Armenian population of the region. Holding such elections will be possible after the withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces, normalization of life in the region, creation of necessary conditions for restoration of the dialogue and cooperation between the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Upper Garabagh," the statement says.
The ministry also said Azerbaijan calls upon the Armenian side to stop its destructive practice of illegal steps and instead to demonstrate a good will and take a constructive position in the talks on settling the Garabagh conflict, which have dynamically evolved through the last year, in order to find the soonest and durable solution to the conflict on the basis of international law.
Upper Garabagh is an Azerbaijani region occupied by Armenia since a 1994 cease-fire ended separatist hostilities that killed an estimated 30,000 people and ousted about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Garabagh Armenians have already held several parliamentary and presidential elections in the unrecognized entity, which were labeled as illegitimate by the Council of Europe and a number of other international organizations.*