ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan considers Karabakh as Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory and believes that any attempt to conduct elections there by the illegally installed regime is legally and morally reprehensible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the ministry’s spokesperson, said in reply to a question that the holding of elections in the Caucasus region was “a grave violation of the UN Charter and principles of established international law”.

Lawmakers in Karab­akh voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to elect security chief Samvel Shahra­manyan, 45, as “president”.

Azerbaijan condemned the so-called elections, calling it an extremely provocative step.

‘We cannot accept this’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that he would raise the election issue with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Speaking after the close of the G20 summit in New Delhi, Erdogan said: “I will have a telephone conversation, probably tomorrow, with Mr Pashinyan. What has been done in Karabakh is not appropriate. We cannot accept this.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan have traded accusations of cross-border attacks in recent months, and Armenia has warned of the risk of a fresh conflict, alleging that its neighbour was massing troops on the countries’ shared border and near Karabakh.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2023