Breakaway Caucasus republic seeks recognition through polls
by Mariam Arutyunyan

Agence France Presse — English
June 17, 2005 Friday 9:49 AM GMT

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan June 17 — Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway
republic claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan since the Soviet
Union’s collapse, holds parliamentary polls Sunday in a bid to convince
the world it is truly independent.

“I will vote whatever happens because I am sure that the world will see
a country that legally elects its leaders as an island of democracy
and will respect our wish to be independent and autonomous,” said a
resident of Stepanakert, Shumi Jora Tovmasyan, 65.

Nagorny Karabakh, which is inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians
and effectively controlled by Armenia, declared independence from
Azerbaijan in 1991, sparking a conflict that, according to differing
estimates, killed between 25,000 and 30,000 people.

In addition to the dead, the conflict also displaced up to one
million people.

The elections are being held in the face of opposition from Azerbaijan,
which still claims sovereignty over the territory, but was beaten
back by Armenian forces in the 1988-1994 war.

Armenia is the only country in the world that recognises Nagorny
Karabakh as an independent state.

“The impact of this poll on the settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh
conflict will depend on the way it goes. If it is free and transparent,
up to international standards, it will have a certain influence on
the way Karabakh and its democracy are viewed,” said the head of
Nagorny Karabakh’s ruling Artsakh Democratic Party, Ashot Gulyan.

Solving the conflict has been the emblematic issue for all six parties
and one electoral bloc seeking election to the 33-seat parliament.

“Karabakh’s independence is already a reality for us, but our country
is not recognized by the world community. This is why we seek a
definitive resolution of the conflict through dialogue,” Gulyan said.

But a leader of the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, Vache Zakaryan,
said Azerbaijan would not compromise over the dispute. Repeated
diplomatic efforts, encouraged by Moscow, Washington and the United
Nations, have failed to achieve a settlement.

Low-level conflict between Armenian and Azeri forces continues to
this day, with dozens of casualties on both sides since the 1994 end
of major hostilities and brokering of a ceasefire.

The elections will be monitored by more than 100 independent observers
from Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Central Asia, but the
West’s main election monitoring body, the Organisation for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will not carry out formal observations.

The self-styled president of Nagorny Karabakh, Arkady Gukasian,
was re-elected in August 2002 in what many called an unfair poll,
with skewed media coverage and a ban on political rallies. Gukasian’s
predecessor, Robert Kocharian, is now president of Armenia.

Karabakh is one of eight regions that Armenia seized from Azerbaijan
in the war and continues to control. The eight regions amount to 14
percent of internationally recognised Azeri territory.