Today, the UN officially circulated a letter of the Armenian Permanent Representative to the UN addressed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the General Assembly and the Security Council regarding the parliamentary elections held in Karabakh.

In his letter, Ambassador Nazaryan voiced his support for the May 23rd parliamentary elections that have been positively assessed by independent observers from different countries in terms of their organization, actual competitiveness and adherence to the legislation and international standards. 

Nazarian pointed out that the state propaganda machinery of Azerbaijan has circulated other letters, press releases and articles making baseless and dangerous accusations towards the Armenian side with the purpose of discrediting the important democratic process taking place in Karabakh.

Notwithstanding the fiction contained in the Azeri propaganda, Armenian Ambassador mentioned in his letter that “as a result of the nation-wide, free and fair elections in Karabakh stable political institutions, legitimate authorities, a functioning government, an elected parliament, independent judiciary and civil control over military forces have been established.  The commitment of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to fundamental democratic values is further evident from the high degree of continued participation of the civil society in the ongoing political process”.

According to the Ambassador, the recognition of the inalienable right of the people of Karabakh to determine their own destiny is at the core of the proposals presented by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Co-Chairs for the settlement of the issue, based on which the current negotiations are being conducted.

Ambassador Nazarian went on to note that “the international community and, in particular, Azerbaijan should be more than interested in interacting with the authorities elected by the people of Karabakh during the settlement negotiations of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, especially given the fact that it is also envisaged by the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Conference.  Moreover, as OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs stated, they ‘understand the need for the de facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh to try to organize democratically the public life of their population’”

The letter further stated that “the elections held on May 23rd serve as a testament to the commitment of the authorities and the people of Karabakh to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. With these elections, the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh once again expressed their determination to live in freedom and independence”.