On September 13, the puppet regime installed on occupied territories of Azerbaijan, will hold “municipal elections.” During the press briefing at the U.S. State Department on September 10, the Armenia-installed regime in control of Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region will hold so-called municipal elections on September 13 in violation of the Constitution of Azerbaijan and norms of international law. Highlighting the fact that many countries have already denounced the so-called elections as illegitimate he asked the spokesperson to clarify the position of the U.S. government on these so-called elections.

The State Department spokesperson John Kirby said: “In the context of a comprehensive settlement of the conflict, we recognize the role of the population in Nagorno-Karabakh in deciding their future. However, the United States does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent sovereign state and we will not accept the results of the so-called elections on the 13th of September as affecting the legal status of the region.” He also stressed that “the so-called elections in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring the lasting peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

As a result of Armenian aggression, 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territories, including Nagorno-Karabakh region were occupied by Armenian armed forces in 1992-1994. During the war, Armenia installed a puppet regime on these internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan Republic. Negotiations on peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict continue under the auspices of OSCE Minsk Group, as Armenia continues to completely ignore four UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijan’s territories and allowing IDPs to return to their homes.