Election of a new president in Nagorno-Karabakh

Amid ongoing tensions between the warring Caucasus nations of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region has elected a new president.

By a majority of 22 votes to one, members of the parliament of the region, which belongs to Azerbaijan but is inhabited by a majority of Armenians, today elected the former head of the local security council, Samvel Shahramanyan, to succeed President Arajik Harutyunyan. Who resigned at the beginning of September.

Azerbaijan talks about a “provocative step”

Azerbaijan immediately denounced the elections as a “highly provocative step” and a “clear violation” of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Turkey, allied with Azerbaijan, said it does not recognize “these illegitimate elections.”

The Foreign Ministry in Ankara described the elections in a statement as “a flagrant violation of international law, including UN Security Council resolutions and the principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.”

The European Union said it did not recognize the “constitutional and legal framework” of the vote that took place. However, she also called on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to “support effective leadership” that is able and willing to hold “result-oriented discussions with Baku.”