SECRET SERVICE CHIEF WINS NAGORNO-KARABAKH PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
July 20, 2007 Friday 3:11 PM EST
Stepanakert/Moscow
DPA POLITICS NKarabakh Elections Armenia Azerbaijan Secret service
chief wins Nagorno-Karabakh presidential vote Stepanakert/Moscow
Secret service chief Bako Saakyan was declared the winner Friday
in the presidential elections held in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave,
gaining 85 per cent of the vote.
The 47-year-old Saakyan was the overwhelming pre-election favourite
to succeed Arkady Gukasyan. His closest competitor, Masis Mailian,
gained 12 per cent of the vote, election officials said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh enclave is contested by Caucasus republics
Azerbaijan and Armenia, with those two countries fighting a war over
the enclave in the early 1990s which claimed thousands of lives and
saw the displacement of some 750,000 Muslims.
Under international law, the enclave belongs to Azerbaijan, but
Saakyan has gone on record to push for independence, backed by Armenia.
Last month, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev had warned against
the reignition of separatist conflicts in the Caucasus and said that
Azerbaijan would not recognize the presidential elections.