Heiko Langner: International community does not recognize so called "elections" in occupied Karabakh

Heiko Langner: International community does not recognize so called "elections" in occupied Karabakh

The USA does not recognize the upcoming so-called "elections" in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, because it does not recognize the regime established there as an independent state, the co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group from the USA, James Warlick, stated in an interview to the Azernews newspaper.

Speaking about the situation in the conflict zone, he noted that almost throughout the entire year the situation there has remained relatively calm. "We have appealed to the sides to reduce tensions and to strictly follow the ceasefire regime. We also continue to propose confidence-building measures that reinforce the ceasefire regime, creating more favorable conditions for negotiations that may lead to a settlement," Trend quotes Warlick as saying.

The diplomat also spoke about the plans of the Minsk Group co-chairs to hold a meeting with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian, on the sidelines of the forthcoming UN General Assembly. "We will discuss the possibility of the next meeting of the presidents later this year with the ministers," he added.

James Warlick also recalled the intention of the co-chairs to visit the conflict region this fall.

In his turn, Berlin political scientist Heiko Langner, in conversation with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza said that the so-called "elections" are not recognized not only by the US, but by the entire world community.

"By holding the 'parliamentary elections' on September 13, the de-facto regime of Nagorno-Karabakh is above all trying to emphasize their desire for international recognition. In this way, it indicates that the so-called 'NKR' is a democratic formation, which regularly holds democratic elections. The international community does not recognize these elections, even if from a formal point of view they will be held as democratic. The reason for this is that, in accordance with UN resolutions, Nagorno-Karabakh is not an independent state and is considered to be a renegade province, owned, according to international law, by Azerbaijan," he stressed.

"Regardless of the non-recognition of the elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, of course its population should be able to vote. From the point of view of the internal political situation, the democratic qualities of the elections can be characterized by allowance for the political parties and groups which have an 'uncomfortable' position and support the adoption of painful compromises with Azerbaijan, to participate in them. Such representatives could, without a doubt, be possible partners in the peace process, in which they could be involved, since they would be interested in resolving the conflict on the basis of finding a balance of interests. But, unfortunately, previous experience leads to a disappointing forecast that in the future, the forces that wish to keep the Azerbaijani territories under military occupation at all costs and to ensure de-facto separation of the region from Azerbaijan will be in a clear majority," the expert stated.

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