Pakistan says Karabakh sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, opposes ‘so-called election’ in region

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan strongly opposed a recently held election in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Sunday, saying that it recognizes the area as Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory and that any attempt to hold polls there is “legally and morally reprehensible.”
Lawmakers in Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway Armenian-populated region in Azerbaijan, voted to elect a new separatist president on Saturday. The move invited sharp criticism from Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry, which labelled the election as a “gross violation” of its constitution, adding that it was a “serious blow” to efforts to carry out normalization in the region.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars, in the early 1990s and again in 2020, for control of the region, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians. Despite mediation efforts by the European Union, the US and Russia, and a unanimous call by the UN Security Council in August to resolve their dispute, the two former Soviet Republics have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement.
“Pakistan considers Karabagh as the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan and any attempt to conduct so called elections by the illegally installed regime is legally and morally reprehensible,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in response to a query about the matter.
“Such an attempt is also a grave violation of the UN Charter and principles of established international law.”
Samvel Shakhramanyan was elected as Nagorno-Karabakh’s new president after Arayik Harutyunyan’s resignation, who stepped down on Sept. 1 as president of the region. It comes amid soaring tensions between the two former Soviet republics. Azerbaijan has blockaded the only road leading from Armenia to the region since December, leading to a shortage of food and medicinal supplies in the region.
Pakistan has always supported Azerbaijan’s claim to the Nagorno-Karabakh territory and has called for the Armenian army’s withdrawal from the region and adjacent districts. Islamabad has consistently called for a solution to the conflict between the two countries based on the UN Security Council’s resolutions.