Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Number of countries condemning the so-called ‘elections’ in Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region is increasing.

Pakistan’s Senate Standing Committee on Defense has issued a statement condemning the so-called ‘elections’, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry reported on September 15.

The so-called ‘elections’ to the ‘self-governing bodies’ of the puppet separatist regime that installed by Armenia in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories were held on September 13.

The document said Armenia has waged a war on Azerbaijan, invading 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory that includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, stressing that Armenia has committed ethnic cleansing and other grave crimes, forcing over a million Azerbaijanis out of their native lands.

“The holding of these illegal elections is a blatant violation of international law and is thus a major blow to the peace talks. This is indicative of another attempt made by the Armenian side to legitimize the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and also of this country being uninterested to find a political solution to the conflict and having chosen the way of provocations and escalations,” the statement reads.

The Committee recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

“We believe the fulfillment of the resolutions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly on the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani lands is the only way to achieve a lasting solution to the conflict,” the statement concluded.

Many countries have already denounced the so-called “elections” as illegitimate. The French and UK embassies in Azerbaijan stated that their countries don’t recognize “elections” in the separatist region of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan condemned the so-called ‘elections’, describing it as an open violation of international law, stating that it does not have any legal weight.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s.

Following the invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia established a separatist regime in the occupied territories and strives for recognition of the puppet regime from the international community.

As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing, almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.

Long-standing efforts by U.S., Russian, and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on the Armenian withdrawal from Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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