It has been learned that “Local Elections” in the Armenian occupied Nagorno Karabagh region of Azerbaijan is planned to be held on 14 October 2007, following to the so-called “Presidential Elections” held in the same region in a similar vein on 19 July 2007, in contravention to international law and disregarding the will of the international community.

These elections, viewed as part of the efforts to unilaterally legitimize the unlawful situation in occupied Nagorno Karabagh, will at the same time mean an explicit violation of the norms of international law, UN Security Council Resolutions and principles of OSCE and Council of Europe.

More than one million Azerbaijani citizens, as is known, have become internally displaced in their homeland as a result of Armenia’s continuous occupation of Nagorno Karabagh and seven districts contiguous to this region, which corresponds %20 of Azerbaijan’s territory. At a time when the negotiations are pursued within the OSCE Minsk Process in order to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict and the Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute, organizing “Local Elections” in the occupied Nagorno Karabagh symbolizes an initiative which disregards the efforts geared towards a peaceful and lasting resolution.

With these considerations, Turkey denounces this renewed effort which violates Azerbaijan’s political unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and appeals to the international community not to recognize the results of the “Local Elections” that would have no binding effect whatsoever under international law.