NAGORNY KARABAKH PASSES SEPARATIST CONSTITUTION
Agence France Presse -- English
December 11, 2006 Monday 10:24 AM GMT
Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh overwhelmingly
approved a constitution declaring itself an independent state,
according to official results announced Monday.
More than 98 percent of participating voters in the unrecognised
republic voted "yes" in Sunday's poll, preliminary results from the
central electoral commission showed.
"Based on these preliminary results, we can already say that the
constitution has been adopted," Sergei Nasibian, the electoral
commission chairman.
The government of oil-rich Azerbaijan has condemned the vote, which
came exactly 15 years after the province's ethnic-Armenian majority
voted to separate from Azerbaijan, preceding a war that killed about
25,000 people and drove about a million people, mostly Azeris, from
their homes.
Nasibian said 87.2 of the 90,000 registered voters took part.
Although a ceasefire took effect in 1994, years of negotiations have
failed to resolve the dispute between Azerbaijan and the Nagorny
Karabakh separatists, who are closely backed by Armenia.
Agence France Presse -- English
December 11, 2006 Monday 10:24 AM GMT
Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorny Karabakh overwhelmingly
approved a constitution declaring itself an independent state,
according to official results announced Monday.
More than 98 percent of participating voters in the unrecognised
republic voted "yes" in Sunday's poll, preliminary results from the
central electoral commission showed.
"Based on these preliminary results, we can already say that the
constitution has been adopted," Sergei Nasibian, the electoral
commission chairman.
The government of oil-rich Azerbaijan has condemned the vote, which
came exactly 15 years after the province's ethnic-Armenian majority
voted to separate from Azerbaijan, preceding a war that killed about
25,000 people and drove about a million people, mostly Azeris, from
their homes.
Nasibian said 87.2 of the 90,000 registered voters took part.
Although a ceasefire took effect in 1994, years of negotiations have
failed to resolve the dispute between Azerbaijan and the Nagorny
Karabakh separatists, who are closely backed by Armenia.