Latvia rejects so-called "parliamentary elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh

/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Latvia has never recognized the so-called election in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and it will not nod to the upcoming trump up "parliamentary elections" in May, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.

Latvia's official position in view of the so-called "parliamentary elections" to be held by the separatist regime in the Nagorno-Karabakh emerged to be pursuant to its approach towards the settlement of the conflict in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

"We believe that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be resolved by peaceful attempts based on the basic principles of the international law and the sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the nations," Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Ivars Lasis said.

In line with its usual belligerent narrative, Armenia has encouraged the puppet regime in Azerbaijan's occupied lands to hold illegitimate parliamentary elections, in view of angering Baku.

The so-called authorities in the occupied Azerbaijani lands have scheduled "parliamentary elections" for May 3, 2015, read an earlier statement from the illegitimate "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" president’s press office.

Lasis said Latvia supported the talks via mediation by the OSCE Minsk Group attempting to settle the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"We think that it is extremely important to hold direct contacts at high levels between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the regulation process of the conflict. The efforts exerted to achieve a sustainable settlement of the conflict should be kept on," he added.

Prior to Latvia's slamming Armenia's provocative "parliamentary elections" in Karabakh, Switzerland and Italy also expressed their anger towards Yerevan in light of the illegal "elections", as its government continues to defy international law.

Puppet rulers in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan have always seized every possible opportunity to hinder, thwart and sabotage peace negotiations. The so-called elections will unavoidably prevent peace talks from moving forward.

Earlier in February, the Azerbaijani foreign ministry called the "parliamentary elections" by the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh illegitimate, stressing that it was a deliberate move aimed at undermining peace talks and prevent any breakthrough in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In light of the upcoming illegal parliamentary elections in the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" due this May, the Azerbaijani authorities announced that they would asses any step taken by the puppet regime in these territories as an act of aggression on another country's territory.

Armenia and Azerbaijan remain locked in a bitter territorial dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia-backed separatists seized from Azerbaijan in a bloody war in the early 1990s.

Azerbaijan's internationally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh territory was turned into a battlefield and zone of aggravated tensions after Armenia sent its troops to occupy Azerbaijan's lands. As a result, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory stands under military occupation. For the past two decades, and despite calls from the international community, Armenia has refused to withdraw its troops and retreat within its national borders.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.