AZERBAIJAN/ARMENIA: VOTING BEGINS IN THE SEPARATIST ENCLAVE OF NAGRO-KARABAKH, DISPUTED TERRITORY BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

Record ID: 218565

  • Title: AZERBAIJAN/ARMENIA: VOTING BEGINS IN THE SEPARATIST ENCLAVE OF NAGRO-KARABAKH, DISPUTED TERRITORY BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
  • Date: 10th August 2002
  • Summary: (W4) STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH, AZERBAIJAN (AUGUST 10, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV GOVERNMENT HOUSE IN STEPANAKERT 0.08 2. LAS POSTER SAYING "INDEPENDENCE " HANGING ON THE WALL OF THE BUILDING 0.13 3. SV PEOPLE AND JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT BUILDING 0.19 4. LV FLAG OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH ON BUILDING 0.23 5. SV/C
  • Embargoed: 25th August 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAGORNO-KARABAKH POLL STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH, AZERBAIJAN AND YEREVAN, ARMENIA
  • City:
  • Country: Armenia Azerbaijan
  • Reuters ID: LVA69FXX92TFANNRZTAGS4QS7JLX
  • Story Text: Polls have opened in the separatist enclave of
    Nagorno-Karabakh, disputed territory between Armenia and
    Azerbaijan, as voters began casting ballots in presidential
    elections.



    Voting began at 0700 local time (0200 GMT) on Sunday
    (August 11) in 265 polling stations across the tiny
    mountainous territory populated mainly by Armenians, but
    located inside Azerbaijan. One polling station was opened in
    the Armenian capital Yerevan.

    Elections will be considered valid if at least 25 percent
    of the voters participate.

    Karabakh's President Arkady Gukasyan, standing for the
    second five-year term, is the leading contender. He promises
    to ensure that the enclave will preserve and protect its
    independence.

    The three other candidates are former parliament speaker
    Artur Tovmasyan, Christian-Democratic leader Albert Kazaryan
    and chief of the republic's Unity party Grigory Afanasyan.

    Russia and the European Union have joined Baku in
    condemning the elections as a challenge to Azerbaijan's
    territorial integrity. The elections are the third
    presidential poll since the enclave declared independence from
    Azerbaijan in December 1991.

    Karabakh broke from Azerbaijan in the waning years of
    the Soviet Union. The two post-Soviet states went to war over
    the territory in 1992-94. Intermittent peace negotiations
    since 1994 have failed to find in a solution to the dispute.


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