NKR Foreign Affairs Ministry’s respond to Azerbaijan over presidential elections reported in UN

STEPANAKERT, October 10. /ARKA/. The response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno- Karabakh Republic has been reported to the UN General Assembly and Security Council with regard to the letters of Azerbaijan’s Representative to the UN over presidential elections held in the NKR on July 19, 2012.

The document of the Foreign Ministry states,“The formation of state structures through free and transparent expression of the popular will has become an inseparable part of the political culture in the Republic,” NKR Foreign Affairs Ministry informs. 

It is also noted that the July 19, 2012 presidential elections in NKR were yet another step towards deepening the democratic traditions and universal values in the country that was affirmed by the high assessments given by the international observers, including members of the European Parliament, journalists and public activists. 

“The Nagorno Karabakh Republic expects the international community to demonstrate an appropriate response to its ongoing democratic processes, which will send the proper signal to the developing democracies around the globe. Any allegations by Azerbaijan that the democratic development of the Nagorno- Karabakh Republic hampers the peace process are illogical, and are solely aimed at distracting the international community away from factual obstacles in the negotiation process”, according to NKR MFA letter. 

NKR Foreign Ministry also states it is the refusal of Azerbaijan to commit to its obligations undertaken within the OSCE Minsk Process that undermines stability, peace and security in the region. 

The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out in 1988 after the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave declared about secession from Azerbaijan. 

As Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union and removed the powers held by the enclave's government, the Armenian majority voted in 1991, December 10, to secede from Azerbaijan and in the process proclaimed the enclave the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Full-scale fighting, initiated by Azerbaijan, erupted in the late winter of 1992. International mediation by several groups including Europe's OSCE’s failed to bring an end resolution that both sides could work with. In the spring of 1993, Armenian forces captured regions outside the enclave itself. By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of most of the enclave and also held and currently control seven regions beyond the administrative borders of Nagorno-Karabakh. Almost 1 million people on both sides have been displaced as a result of the conflict. A Russian- -brokered ceasefire was signed in May 1994 and peace talks, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, have been held ever since by Armenia and Azerbaijan. -0-