Azerbaijan excludes recognition of the illegal referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991, head of the political analysis section of the information support of Azerbaijani presidential administration, Elnur Aslanov, said, commenting on the statement of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, made in an interview with Echo Moskvy.
Aslanov said that Azerbaijan promotes peaceful settlement of the conflict. This requires withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territory (20% of the territory), he told Trend.
Sargsyan mentioned that the conflict may be resolved using the results of the referendum held in 1991, according to the Soviet law.
Aslanov says that the referendum on December 10, 1991, violates the Soviet law and had no legal basis.
The new voting process should not violate the law, otherwise it will be pointless. New voting is impossible as long as the occupation continues and exile of one third of Azerbaijani population, Aslanov said.
He reminded that Azerbaijan recognizes the territorial unity of Armenia and expects a similar approach. Madrid principles of the OSCE Minsk Group propose combining interior and exterior principles of self-determination of peoples. The only way to combine them is using the 8th article of the Helsinki act of 1975, which is interior self-determination. Self-determination leading to a breakaway of Nagorno-Karabakh violates territorial unity, Aslanov said.
