STEPANAKERT (Armenpress)–A statement released on Wednesday by Karabagh’s Foreign Affairs Ministry–stressed that the upcoming August 8 elections is another step in building a civil society in Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR). "We proceed from the fact that only legally elected representatives of authority are empowered with necessary power and bear responsibility for the fate of people of Mountainous Karabagh," read the statement.
Azerbaijan has undertaken international efforts to stop the elections saying they run counter to international law as well as Azerbaijan’s legislation.
"Mountainous Karabagh has been living independently for 16 years and has nothing to do with Azerbaijan’s laws; citing them–therefore–is absolutely groundless," the statement says–describing Azerbaijan’s assertions as "cut off from current realities."
The statement scoffs at another assertion by the Azeri foreign ministry that the elections are invalid because the Azeri population of Mountainous Karabagh cannot participate. "If we follow this kind of logic then all national elections in Azerbaijan are invalid–as almost half a million of ethnic Armenia’s had to flee it as a result of ethnic cleansing," the statement says.