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The separatist regime in Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation, held a parliamentary election Sunday, a month after the collapse of a plan to end hostility between Armenia and Turkey and ease tension in the South Caucasus, Reuters reported.
Most candidates and parties insist on "independence" for Upper Garabagh from Azerbaijan, while some want the region to become part of Armenia, according to Reuters.
Azerbaijan, which is backed by ethnically related Turkey, criticized the election as illegal.
The tiny mountainous region, mainly populated by Armenians, proclaimed so-called independence after a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000. Its "independence" is not recognized by any country.
More than 15 years of mediation have failed to produce a final peace deal and the threat of war is never far away in a key energy transit region to the West. Azerbaijan has not ruled out military action to liberate its land and has spent billions on dollars on building up its military.
Turkey, Azerbaijan's ally and energy trading partner in the region, closed the border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with a close Muslim ally.
The breakaway region has seen an increase in tension since Armenia and Turkey announced their rapprochement last year. Turkish officials have assured Azerbaijan that the October 2009 agreements on mending ties with Armenia will not pass in the country’s parliament until progress is made in resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
The accords crumbled last month, when Armenia suspended its ratification following Turkish demands that it first reach terms over Upper Garabagh.
"Democracy is one of the most important values for us," Bako Saakian, the leader of the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic, told reporters after voting, urging the next parliament to take further steps toward "independence".
Polls closed at 8 p.m. and an election commission spokesman said the result would not be clear until Monday morning.
Parties, which include pro-government Free Motherland, Democratic Party of Artsakh and Dashnaktsutiun as well as opposition, but not popular Communist Party, will need to clear a six-percent threshold to get into the parliament.
Azerbaijan condemned the poll.
"The new election farce in the occupied territories violates Azerbaijan's constitution and the norms of international law," Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission (CEC) said in a statement.
Azerbaijan has warned observers against monitoring the poll. "Upper Garabagh is Azeri territory and anyone visiting it without permission from the Azeri side will be declared persona non grata and will not be able to visit Azerbaijan," said Elkhan Polukhov, the Foreign Ministry spokesman.*