Four candidates registered to run in the election; incumbent President Bako Sahakyan, Deputy Minister of Defence Vitaly Balasanyan, the rector of Stepanakert University Arkady Soghomonyan and Valery Khachatryan.

The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stated that the EU did not recognise the constitutional and legal framework within which the presidential election was held.

[6][7] Chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Eamon Gilmore released a statement according to which the OSCE does not recognise the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh and thus the election will not have any impact on the ongoing peace negotiations.

[9] A spokesperson for the ministry added that every foreign citizen who attended the election as an observer would be declared persona non grata and denied entry into Azerbaijan in the future.

[10][11] In the following days, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Turkey,[12][13] Romania,[14] Georgia,[15] Russia,[16] Germany,[17] Latvia,[18][19] and Iran[20] and embassies of Israel,[21] the United Kingdom,[22] Canada, Australia, and New Zealand,[23] made similar statements in denying the legitimacy of the election.