Aliyev Has Never Been Registered in Stepanakert to Vote There, Says Marukyan

Edmon Marukyan, the special envoy of the Republic of Armenia, has responded to the extraordinary presidential elections in Azerbaijan on his social media page.

“Today, in the extraordinary presidential elections of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev organized his voting in the city of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Azerbaijani legislation, Ilham Aliyev has never been registered in Stepanakert, and thus has no right to vote there. What is noteworthy here is that Aliyev started an unprovoked war against the peaceful people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and then ethnically cleansed those whom he called Azerbaijani citizens. Now he has gone to the ethnically cleansed city of Stepanakert, where there are no people left to participate in the elections, and has voted with his family.

The international community first silently observed the assault on the peaceful population, then the ethnic cleansing of more than 100,000 people, and has now begun to refer to the ethnically cleansed city of Stepanakert as Khankendi at the request of Azerbaijan. However, according to all international laws, including those obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan before the Council of Europe, names cannot be changed without the decision of the local population. But what is the point when they are preparing to tolerate the voting of the President of Azerbaijan in an ethnically cleansed city, without even threatening to impose international sanctions for the crimes committed against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh?” he wrote.