OSCE rejects Garabagh ‘election’
Kanat Saudabayev, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Kazakhstan’s
Foreign Minister, has said the "parliamentary election" held by the
Armenia-backed separatist regime in Azerbaijan’s occupied Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh region "should in no way influence the outcome
of the process of settling the Garabagh conflict.
Ethnic Armenians in Upper Garabagh, backed by Armenia, declared so-called independence in fighting that erupted as the Soviet Union headed towards its 1991 collapse. The war left over 30,000 people dead on both sides. The Armenians invaded Upper Garabagh and seven surrounding Azeri districts before a cease-fire was declared in 1994. The separatist regime operating in the region elected its 33-seat "parliament" on Sunday in a "vote" criticized by a slew of international organizations.
"Since the OSCE supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and does not recognize the independence of Nagorno Garabagh, the holding of a 'parliamentary election' has no bearing or influence on the process of the Nagorno-Garabagh settlement," says Saudabayev’s statement, posted on the OSCE website.
"I reiterate support for the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Garabagh conflict and will continue to assist in every way possible the political talks between all the parties within the Minsk process."*
Ethnic Armenians in Upper Garabagh, backed by Armenia, declared so-called independence in fighting that erupted as the Soviet Union headed towards its 1991 collapse. The war left over 30,000 people dead on both sides. The Armenians invaded Upper Garabagh and seven surrounding Azeri districts before a cease-fire was declared in 1994. The separatist regime operating in the region elected its 33-seat "parliament" on Sunday in a "vote" criticized by a slew of international organizations.
"Since the OSCE supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and does not recognize the independence of Nagorno Garabagh, the holding of a 'parliamentary election' has no bearing or influence on the process of the Nagorno-Garabagh settlement," says Saudabayev’s statement, posted on the OSCE website.
"I reiterate support for the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Garabagh conflict and will continue to assist in every way possible the political talks between all the parties within the Minsk process."*
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