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Chairman of the Azerbaijani Central Election Commission Mazahir Panahov announced recently that “voters of Armenian origin” can cast ballots in the February 7 snap presidential elections in Azerbaijan.

Panorama.am reached out to Larisa Alaverdyan, Armenia’s former ombudsperson and chair of the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO, for comments on Baku’s new false propaganda narrative.

"All this is deception and qualifies as a crime in international law,” she said.

“At the same time, I don’t have the slightest doubt that in this country they could even find Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin and take them to vote. They can do whatever they want in broad daylight, and all this on the basis of a false statement that 'Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan'," Alaverdyan said, pointing to Baku's genocidal actions in Artsakh in 2020, its months-long blockade and full depopulation in 2023.

"At the same time, it’s important to understand that contrary to the recurrent false claims, the Artsakh people had no other choice. There was a real threat: all these demonstrative murders were committed in order for the Artsakh people to realize what fate awaits them if they stay, let alone Azerbaijan’s construction of a concentration camp for Artsakh Armenians which was reported by international media outlets. So, Azerbaijan is getting away with the occupation of all of Artsakh based on lies. At the same time, it’s free to make new false statements,” Alaverdyan stressed.

"But no matter how many false statements are made by Baku, it is necessary to debunk them, which requires active efforts. We should realize that all these statements are nothing in terms of international law.”

Touching upon the expert opinions that Aliyev is trying to fake respect for the rights of Artsakh Armenians amid strong pressure from the international community, particularly the EU, Larisa Alaverdyan noted: "I'm sorry but I don't believe there is any "pressure on Azerbaijan", let alone "strong". There is only one method of pressure: imposing sanctions on the leadership that has committed crimes. This is not only not done, but it is constantly stated that no sanctions will be imposed on Baku. The reason, however, is known to all of us."

"So, there is no need to be deluded. To remind, in September last year, if I am not mistaken, [EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy] Josep Borrell announced that the violation of the rights of Artsakh Armenians would lead to severe consequences for Baku. Where are these promised serious consequences?” Alaverdyan said.