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OSCE MG Co-Chairs commented on the so-called “local elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh - EXCLUSIVE

10 September 2019 14:53 (UTC +04:00)

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group take note that so-called “local elections” took place on 8 September in Nagorno-Karabakh, The Communication and Media Relations Section at the OSCE Secretariat told APA.

According to the OSCE, the Co-Chairs, in the context of a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, recognize the role of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in deciding its future. "The Co-Chairs note, however, that Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized as an independent and sovereign state by any of the Co-Chair countries or any other country. Accordingly, the Co-Chairs stress that the result of these “elections” should not be viewed as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh, and in no way prejudges the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the conflict. The Co-Chairs remain strongly committed to helping the sides achieve a just and lasting peaceful settlement to the conflict.”

Note that on September 8 of this year the so-called “local self-government elections” were held in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has condemned these "elections". The Georgian Foreign Ministry also said does not recognize the "elections".

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in December 1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.