Azerbaijan Hides Its Democratic Failure Behind the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Anna Naghdalyan

The spokesperson for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Anna Naghdalyan, responded to a question regarding the parliamentary elections held in Azerbaijan:

Question: Parliamentary elections took place in Azerbaijan, and international assessments are already known. At the same time, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement about the parliamentary elections in that country, noting that voters from Nagorno-Karabakh also participated in the elections, and the elected parliamentarians are considered representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh. How do you comment on this?

Answer: We have repeatedly stated that the establishment and strengthening of democratic societies in the region aligns with the interests of regional stability, development, and prosperity. We are aware of the international observers' assessments regarding the elections. As noted in the preliminary report of the international observation mission and in the assessments of the heads of the observation mission, the elections were accompanied by systematic gross violations.

Once again, Azerbaijan is attempting to mask its democratic failure and the extremely low level of electoral legitimacy by referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan's false and insincere claims that elected representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh are formed during these elections best reflect Azerbaijan's distorted perceptions of democracy.

The people of Artsakh have not participated in Azerbaijan's elections neither now nor at any time in the history of the Republic of Azerbaijan. We would like to remind that the people of Artsakh will exercise their right to vote in their homeland on March 31 during the upcoming national elections, where they will elect their representatives, including the president and members of the National Assembly, through free expression of will.