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AZERBAIJAN CALLS BREAKAWAY REGION'S INDEPENDENCE VOTE A 'FARCE'
Agence France Presse -- English
December 11, 2006 Monday 9:11 PM GMT
Azerbaijan on Monday described the constitutional referendum held in
its breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh as a "farce."
Some 98.6 percent of votes cast in Sunday's poll approved a
constitution declaring the Armenian-backed Nagorny Karabakh an
independent state.
"In the end it will have negative rather than positive consequences.
Such a referendum does not contribute to a peaceful resolution,"
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists
on Monday.
"The passing of a legal resolution would need the participation of
absolutely all citizens, the citizens of Azerbaijan. Without their
participation it is frivolous," he said.
Nagorny Karabakh first declared itself independent in 1991,
precipitating a full-blown war between former fellow Soviet republics
Armenia and Azerbaijan, which claimed some 25,000 lives before ending
with a ceasefire in 1994.
Years of negotiations have failed to resolve the dispute between
Azerbaijan and the Armenian-backed Nagorny Karabakh separatists.
Mammadyarov suggested that the referendum indicated that Armenia was
not negotiating in good faith.
"On the one hand they say 'yes' we agree that negotiations be brought
forward, and on the other hand they hold a constitutional referendum.
It's a joke, a farce, nobody will accept it," he said.
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, a key player in the peace negotiations, on Monday called the
referendum "counter-productive."
The European Union said it "recognizes neither the 'referendum'
nor its outcome."
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said the vote would not
impede the peace process.
"The referendum will not hinder the continuation of the negotiating
process, as the basis for the peaceful resolution lies in the right
of the people of Nagorny Karabakh to self-determination," he told
Russia's RIA Novosti news agency ahead of the vote.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Agence France Presse -- English
December 11, 2006 Monday 9:11 PM GMT
Azerbaijan on Monday described the constitutional referendum held in
its breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh as a "farce."
Some 98.6 percent of votes cast in Sunday's poll approved a
constitution declaring the Armenian-backed Nagorny Karabakh an
independent state.
"In the end it will have negative rather than positive consequences.
Such a referendum does not contribute to a peaceful resolution,"
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists
on Monday.
"The passing of a legal resolution would need the participation of
absolutely all citizens, the citizens of Azerbaijan. Without their
participation it is frivolous," he said.
Nagorny Karabakh first declared itself independent in 1991,
precipitating a full-blown war between former fellow Soviet republics
Armenia and Azerbaijan, which claimed some 25,000 lives before ending
with a ceasefire in 1994.
Years of negotiations have failed to resolve the dispute between
Azerbaijan and the Armenian-backed Nagorny Karabakh separatists.
Mammadyarov suggested that the referendum indicated that Armenia was
not negotiating in good faith.
"On the one hand they say 'yes' we agree that negotiations be brought
forward, and on the other hand they hold a constitutional referendum.
It's a joke, a farce, nobody will accept it," he said.
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, a key player in the peace negotiations, on Monday called the
referendum "counter-productive."
The European Union said it "recognizes neither the 'referendum'
nor its outcome."
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said the vote would not
impede the peace process.
"The referendum will not hinder the continuation of the negotiating
process, as the basis for the peaceful resolution lies in the right
of the people of Nagorny Karabakh to self-determination," he told
Russia's RIA Novosti news agency ahead of the vote.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress