PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO BE HELD JULY 19

RIA Novosti, Russia
April 4 2007

YEREVAN, April 4 (RIA Novosti) – Nagorno-Karabakh’s National Assembly
set a date for regular presidential elections in the republic for
July 19, 2007, the Novosti-Armenia news agency said Wednesday.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, two South
Caucasus nations – Azerbaijan and Armenia – have been in conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population.

The dispute first erupted in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh declared
independence from Azerbaijan and moved to join Armenia.

Over 30,000 people were killed on both sides between 1988 and 1994,
and over 100 died following a 1994 ceasefire. Nagorno-Karabakh
remained in Armenian hands, but tensions between Azerbaijan and
Armenia have persisted.

Azerbaijan seems determined to restore its control over the separatist
region.