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TURKEY: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH UNACCEPTABLE
Today's Zaman
July 18 2012
Turkey
The Foreign Ministry has announced that Turkey is not going
to recognize the upcoming presidential elections to be held in
Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory subject to an unresolved dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, deeming them "contrary to international law
and the expectations of the international community."
"Being undeterred in continuing its efforts for a ... normalization
in the region in parallel to the maintenance of initiatives to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute on different platforms, Turkey
deplores this action [elections] which means a new sort of violation
of Azerbaijan's political independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity," the ministry declared in a statement released on Wednesday.
Stating that such elections would be a clear violation of UN Security
Council resolutions and Organization of Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) principles, the Foreign Ministry claimed that these are
"just another new example of efforts to unilaterally legitimize the
status quo going against international law" in the disputed region.
The so-called independent government controlling the region is
scheduled to hold presidential elections on Thursday.
The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan,
but it is under control of a de facto independent but unrecognized
Armenia-backed government. The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan turned into a war after the Armenian invasion
in 1991. A cease-fire that persists to this day was declared in 1994.
Supporting its strategic ally Azerbaijan, Turkey closed its borders
with Armenia in an effort to pressure Armenia to respect the borders
of its neighbors.
Although there have been efforts to resolve the dispute through the
Minsk Group initiative, there has so far been almost no progress. The
Minsk Group, an OSCE initiative, was established in 1992 to help
resolve the dispute, but no progress from the group's efforts has
been reported so far.
Today's Zaman
July 18 2012
Turkey
The Foreign Ministry has announced that Turkey is not going
to recognize the upcoming presidential elections to be held in
Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory subject to an unresolved dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, deeming them "contrary to international law
and the expectations of the international community."
"Being undeterred in continuing its efforts for a ... normalization
in the region in parallel to the maintenance of initiatives to
resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute on different platforms, Turkey
deplores this action [elections] which means a new sort of violation
of Azerbaijan's political independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity," the ministry declared in a statement released on Wednesday.
Stating that such elections would be a clear violation of UN Security
Council resolutions and Organization of Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) principles, the Foreign Ministry claimed that these are
"just another new example of efforts to unilaterally legitimize the
status quo going against international law" in the disputed region.
The so-called independent government controlling the region is
scheduled to hold presidential elections on Thursday.
The territory is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan,
but it is under control of a de facto independent but unrecognized
Armenia-backed government. The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan turned into a war after the Armenian invasion
in 1991. A cease-fire that persists to this day was declared in 1994.
Supporting its strategic ally Azerbaijan, Turkey closed its borders
with Armenia in an effort to pressure Armenia to respect the borders
of its neighbors.
Although there have been efforts to resolve the dispute through the
Minsk Group initiative, there has so far been almost no progress. The
Minsk Group, an OSCE initiative, was established in 1992 to help
resolve the dispute, but no progress from the group's efforts has
been reported so far.