The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, on Wednesday delivered an address at the Special Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.
In connection with the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR; Artsakh), Nalbandian specifically noted as follows:
On May 3, 2015 the people of Nagorno-Karabakh for the sixth time will exercise their democratic right to elect members to the National Assembly. The democratic processes in Nagorno-Karabakh are not meant to influence the peace process or anyhow add to its international recognition, as was referred by some participating states also here at one of the last PC meetings. Building of democracy based on fundamental human rights and freedoms anywhere in the world should only be welcomed by other democratic members of the international community.
Let us remind that Article 2 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights states (I quote) “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction … No distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs” (end of quote). It is indicative, in this regard, that according to the Freedom House report on the Freedom in the World in 2015 Nagorno-Karabakh is way ahead of Azerbaijan in terms of fundamental freedoms.
Therefore, it does not come as a surprise when Baku criticizes elections in Nagorno-Karabakh given well-known Human Rights situation in Azerbaijan. However, sometimes few participating States while declaring about their support the Minsk Group Co-Chairs at the same time are resorting to the statements that contradict the spirit and terminology of the peace process. The Co-Chairs have been clear to note that through the electoral process “Nagorno-Karabakh tries to organize democratically the public life of its population”.
We call on all participating States to follow the Co-Chairs’ wording, not only in the case of elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, but on other matters related to that issue as well, since this format is the only internationally mandated body for the conflict resolution and any deviation from their language may mean taking the sides in this dispute.
