BAKU. – The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan considers the preliminary statement of the OSCE/ODIHR on the Azerbaijani presidential elections as an insult to the will of Azerbaijani voters, and completely ignores it, the CEC said in a statement, reports APA news agency of Azerbaijan.

The statement also notes that, the “OSCE/ODIHR’s [i.e., the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] judgment, made on [Thursday,] October 10, about the Azerbaijani presidential election [which was held on Wednesday] stands in total contrast to the opinion of 20 other international organizations, which monitored the election. Making such a statement leaves the OSCE/ODIHR isolated.

“The OSCE/ODIHR, which turns a blind eye to grave irregularities in the elections held in neighboring countries including assassination attempts, continues to lay fictitious claims against Azerbaijan,” the Azerbaijani CEC also states. 

The Azerbaijani CEC made a reference to the Karabakh conflict in its statement, too, and noted that, “the [OSCE/ODIHR] mission paid no heed to the problem caused at the elections by such a reality as the presence of over a million of refugees and IDPs in the Republic of Azerbaijan, […] and 20 percent of whose lands has been under occupation of Armenia.”   

The Azerbaijani Central Election Commission  also noted that it is “forced to apply to the government of Azerbaijan to consider the issue of continuation of cooperation with the OSCE/ODIHR.”