Pakistan considers Karabakh as sovereign territory of Azerbaijan: FO

Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Sunday said Pakistan considered Karabakh as the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and any attempt to conduct so-called elections by the illegally installed regime was legally and morally reprehensible.

Responding to a query regarding the so-called presidential elections in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the spokesperson said such an attempt was also a grave violation of the United Nations Charter and principles of established international law.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.

Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region, where Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint in April on the grounds of preventing the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.