US won't recognize parliamentary elections in Nagorno-Karabakh

The spokesman of the US State Department has announced that the United States does not intend to recognise the results of the parliamentary elections held in Nagorno-Karabakh on May 3.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the parliamentary elections in the NKR are scheduled for May 3. All the three political forces represented in the NKR's National Assembly, including the "Free Homeland", the "Dashnaktsutyun", and the "Democratic Party of Artsakh", have announced their participation in the forthcoming elections. Later, the four oppositional parties, namely, the "National Renaissance", "Movement-88", "Peace and Development", and the Communist Party, have reported their decision to participate in the elections.

"The United States does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent sovereign state. In this regard, we will not accept the results of the elections of May 3," the RIA "Novosti" quotes US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke as stating at the press briefing held on May 1.

Jeff Rathke has noted that "in the context of the comprehensive settlement of the conflict, the United States recognizes that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh should play a role in determining their future." Jeff Rathke has added that the US State Department does not intend to make rash judgments about Nagorno-Karabakh before the completion of the international negotiations on the status of the territory.

The US State Department spokesman has emphasized that "the elections by no means foreclose the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict", the "Interfax-Azerbaijan" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.