Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] leader says Karabakh’s future not with “totalitarian” Azerbaijan

Regnum, Moscow
19 Jun 05

19 June: Voting is under way in the unrecognized Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic [NKR] for the National Assembly of the fourth convocation.
Voters are remarkably active, a Regnum correspondent reports.

The president of Nagornyy Karabakh, Arkadiy Gukasyan, has already
carried out his civic duty. After he cast his vote he told journalists
that he voted “for independence, democracy and freedom of Artsakh
(Karabakh)”.

Commenting on Azerbaijan’s statements that the elections are illegal,
the president said that “for the time being, the attention of people
and observers is drawn to processes in Karabakh which directly relates
to NKR’s future independence”.

Gukasyan dismissed Baku’s statements on the need to adjust contacts
between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the republic
as flippant, adding that “by that, Azerbaijan is dragging out
the solution of its own problems”. “By proving that Karabakh is a
democratic entity, we shall once again show that our country has no
place in a totalitarian Azerbaijan,” Gukasyan said.

Replying to a question about the possibility of forming a coalition
government in Karabakh after the elections, he advised us to wait
for the outcome of the voting.

The Regnum correspondent reported that by now more than 200 voters
had their voting rights restored through courts.