Nagorno-Karabakh sets constitutional referendum for December

International Herald Tribune, France
Nov 3 2006

The Associated PressPublished: November 3, 2006

YEREVAN, Armenia: The leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed
Armenian-controlled territory in Azerbaijan, on Friday ordered a
constitutional referendum to be held next month.

President Arkady Gukasian set the referendum for Dec. 10, his office
said. The draft constitution says that Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
also called the Republic of Artsakh, is a sovereign democratic nation.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan that has been under the
control of Armenian and ethnic-Armenian Karabakh forces since a 1994
cease-fire ended a six-year separatist war that killed about 30,000
people and drove about 1 million from their homes.

The region’s final status has not been worked out, and years of
talks under the auspices of international mediators have brought few
visible results.