SAAKYAN WINS VOTE

St Petersburg Times, Russia
July 24 2007

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan (Reuters) – Azerbaijan’s breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh republic elected a local security chief as its new
leader Friday, but the change was unlikely to bring new policies or
unlock a 20-year conflict over the region.

Bako Saakyan, who served in the administration of outgoing separatist
President Arkady Gukasyan and was endorsed by his boss to replace him,
won with 85 percent in Thursday’s vote, prelinary results showed.

Azerbaijan – which lost a war for control of the mountainous area in
the 1990s – called the vote illegal, while the European Union said
Thursday that it did not recognize the election as legitimate.

Nagorno-Karabakh, populated mainly by ethnic Armenians, is legally
part of mainly Muslim Azerbaijan.

It has declared itself an independent state but has not been recognized
by any country. Efforts to negotiate a settlement with Azerbaijan
have made no substantial progress.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress