Baku, April 8, AZERTAC

An influential think tank of Pakistan, the Center for Global and Strategic Studies (CGSS), has published an analytical article by regional geopolitical analyst, member board of experts of CGSS Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan condemning the so called “elections” held in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region on March 31, 2020.

Headlined “Illegal elections in Nagorno-Karabakh: A Critical Analysis”, the article says: “Although elections are one of the ‘trinity’ of modern democratic system but illegal elections only ‘provoke’ social disharmony, political derailing, economic insecurity and human isolation in the world. Modern civilization has witnessed ‘numerous’ incidents where people of occupied territories remained ‘detached’ with the so-called parliamentary and presidential elections and the Republic of Azerbaijan is not any exception because its population belonging to Nagorno-Karabakh region, illegally occupied by Armenia rejected the most recently held election’s ‘viability’, ‘validity’ and ‘relevance’. Resultantly, the civilized world has now termed it ‘ashamed’ democracy and discarded the recently held elections by the Armenian government.

The recent illegal elections held on March 31, 2020 in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia have again ‘escalated’ tensions between the two South Caucasus countries that have been at odds since the early 1990s. Armenian continued ‘annexation’ policy and ‘hegemonic’ inspirations/dreams remained anti-development and even anti-humane since the 1990s.

On its part, the foreign ministry of Azerbaijan issued an immediate statement to denounce the so called ‘elections’ and labelled it as illegal which did not have any valid lawful basis and violated the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the charter of the United Nations (UN), and the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council (UNSC).”

In the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19, Armenia shrewdly held elections to deceive the world community but miserably failed to achieve its goals. It has been termed illegal by most of the “world conscious” and of course organizations like OIC, EU, NATO and The Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) etc.

The international community has rejected the previous elections by the Republic of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and thus, clearly undermined whatever pretexts that Armenia cynically projected to justify its overt disrespect to international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the human rights of the expelled population of the occupied territories.

Armenia succeeded to capture 20 percent territories of Azerbaijan and brutally assassinated 30,000of its people and one million people were forced to leave their houses in the occupied lands.

In 1993, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874 (1993) and 884 (1993), condemning the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan and reaffirming respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of its internationally-recognized borders.

Furthermore, the Security Council had also confirmed that the Nagorno-Karabakh region is an “integral part” of Azerbaijan, and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Armenia is notorious for its “state terrorism” “planned ethnic cleansing” and “dirty schemes.

The UN, OSCE, other international organizations and the world community have repeatedly condemned the illegal "elections" in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, highlighting the blessedness of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders. Pakistan’s parliament and Senate have also strongly condemned illegal occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories by Armenia and demanded its withdrawal immediately. Moreover, illegal elections have also spoiled the negotiation process, serving to escalate the situation between the two countries in the region.

Therefore, holding elections in an occupied territory is not only illegal but also threatens the peace efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.

“Being a prominent regional expert of Azerbaijan and CIS, I evaluate that the most recent elections in the occupied territories as another "failed" "political drama" of Armenia to “desperately legitimize” its presence in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also slammed the illegal “presidential and parliamentary elections” held in Nagorno-Karabakh. It viewed the holding of elections in the occupied region of the Republic of Azerbaijan on March 31, 2020, as in contravention to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” he mentions.

Armenia stands for genocide and does not for democratic generosity wherein, people are given equal rights to vote or business equity. Armenia stands for ethnic cleansing and does not for community development. Last but not least, Armenia is famous for racial discrimination and does not stand for rigorous development.

Illegal occupation, refutation of international law, denunciation of international resolutions and means of cold-blooded tactics by Armenia is no service to democracy, development and dialogue but it may gear regional conflict in the days to come."