Breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region holds presidential poll declared illegal by Azerbaijan

Record ID: 903273

  • Title: Breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region holds presidential poll declared illegal by Azerbaijan
  • Date: 19th July 2017
  • Summary: STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH, AZERBAIJAN (JULY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF STEPANAKERT MONUMENT ON STEPS OF PARK AREA VARIOUS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS IN PARK WOMAN HOLDING HOSE INSIDE FOUNTAIN VIEW OF STREET AND PARK TRAFFIC ON THE STREET BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (JULY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING IN BAKU AZERI FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON, HIKMET HAJIYEV, SAYING: "The illegal parliamentary elections and constitutional change has been rejected by the international community and was not recognised as such. Therefore, presidential elections conducted by an illegal parliament is ridiculous and is nothing other than self-deception. It is a very well-known fact that members, or so called leaders, of the occupied regime established in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan were appointed by the political leadership of Armenia and they fulfil the functions of a marionette." NEAR BAKU, AZERBAIJAN (JULY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RESIDENTIAL AREA WHERE DISPLACED REFUGEES FROM NAGORNO-KARABAKH LIVE GIRL LOOKING OUT OF BALCONY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Azeri) REFUGEE FROM NAGORNO-KARABAKH, OSMAN NASIROV, SAYING: "I'm a refugee from the Zangilan district. Armenians occupied our town. And now they are holding a referendum. I protest against this. How can they hold a referendum on my land without taking any consideration for our opinions." CHILD CYCLING NEAR RESIDENTIAL BLOCK CHILDREN ON BICYCLES
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2017 17:37
  • Keywords: Azerbaijan Armenia Nagorno-Karabakh president election
  • Location: STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH AND BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
  • City: STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH AND BAKU, AZERBAIJAN
  • Country: Azerbaijan
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036QDUDDZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The parliament of Azerbaijan's breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh re-elected current head of the entity Bako Sahakyan as president on Wednesday (July 19).
    Sahakyan, who held top positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh army and served as the region's interior minister and the head of National Security service, became president in 2007.
    Thursday's vote allows him to retain the position until 2020, when election by parliament will be replaced by popular vote.
    Azerbaijan's foreign ministry called the vote illegal.
    "Presidential elections conducted by an illegal parliament is ridiculous and is nothing other than self deception," said foreign ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiev.
    Clashes over control of Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, first erupted in 1991 and a ceasefire was agreed in 1994. But Azerbaijan and Armenia have regularly traded accusations of violence around the breakaway region and along the Azeri-Armenian border.
    Fighting has intensified in the past three years and turned into a violent flare-up of the conflict last April, when the International Crisis Group (ICG) said at least 200 people were killed.
    Since mid-January this year, deadly incidents between ethnic Azeris and Armenians over Nagorno-Karabakh involving the use of heavy artillery and anti-tank weapons have occurred and May saw a significant increase, including reports of self-guided rockets and missiles used near densely populated areas along the contact line.
    Efforts to secure a permanent settlement of the conflict in the South Caucasus, which is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines, have failed despite mediation led by France, Russia and the United States, known as the OSCE Minsk Group.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register