OIC rejects elections in ‘occupied’ Nagorno-Karabakh

By Zehra Nur Duz

ANKARA (AA) - The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday slammed so-called presidential and parliamentary elections held Tuesday in Upper Karabakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh -- a region illegally occupied by Armenia.

“OIC views the holding of elections in the occupied region of the Republic of Azerbaijan on March 31, 2020 as in contravention to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the international organization said on Twitter.

The OIC also highlighted the importance of resolutions and decisions of the OIC and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to encourage a “peaceful solution to the conflict on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan”.

Azerbaijan and Armenia, two former Soviet republics, fought a war over the disputed region in 1988-1994. The two signed a cease-fire in 1994, but never reached a peace deal. Upper Karabakh remains unrecognized internationally as a separate state.

Turkey maintains that any resolution of the Upper Karabakh conflict should take into account Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.

Upper Karabakh is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan which has been illegally occupied since 1991 by Armenian military aggression.

Four UN Security Council and two General Assembly resolutions, as well as decisions by many other international organizations, refer to this fact and demand the withdrawal of Armenia’s occupation forces from Upper Karabakh and seven other occupied regions of Azerbaijan.

The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia and the U.S. – was formed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but has yet to get any results.