23:00, 24 May 2010

OSCE not to recognize elections in Nagorno-Karabakh

As stated by Kanat Saudabaev, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and the current OSCE Chairman, the May 23 parliamentary elections held in Nagorno-Karabakh did not promote any conflict settlement in the region.

"Since the OSCE does not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, any 'parliamentary elections' have no value or influence on the process of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement," Mr Saudabaev told today to the "Interfax" Agency.

A statement of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for Nagorno-Karabakh Settlement notes that the elections "should not hamper the definition of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh within the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh problem," the "PanArmenian" Agency reports.

The co-chairs have reemphasized that Nagorno-Karabakh had not been recognized as an independent and sovereign state by any of the three co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group, and by any other country, including Armenia, as the "Trend" Agency reports.