Polls have opened in a referendum to amend the constitution of the de facto Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. If approved, the changes would create a presidential system of government, and change the name of the breakaway republic to Artsakh.
According to Artsakhpress, an Armenian-language news-agency based in the capital, Stepanakert, 280 polling stations in 11 electoral districts opened at 08:00 on 20 February.
According to Artsakhpress, 100,000 people are eligible to take part in the referendum. The constitutional referendum will be overseen by 2,222 Central Election Commission members. Over 100 international observers from more than 30 countries, as well as 103 local observers, and more than 80 media representatives will follow the voting process. The polling stations will close at 20:00.
Following a 2006 referendum, Nagorno-Karabakh has had a semi-presidential system of government. The referendum envisions a transition to a more centralised, presidential system, which would give Bako Sahayan, serving his second term as a President, a chance to maintain power.
The change in the constitution mirrors a referendum in Armenia in December 2015, according to which Armenia transitioned from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government. This move was perceived by many as an attempt by current president, Serzh Sargsyan, whose second term as president expires in 2018, to maintain power by running for Prime Minister.
In addition to the change to a presidential system, the referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh also suggests a change of the breakaway region’s name. If people agree, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will be renamed Artsakh, its ‘historic name’.
According to Armenian historic narratives, the Kingdom of Artsakh was one of the last medieval eastern Armenian kingdoms and principalities to maintain its autonomy following the Turkic invasions of the 11th to 14th centuries. Much of historical Artsakh is believed to overlap with the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
If the majority votes for the changes, the Republic of Artsakh will be written in the first paragraph of the Constitution, but both names will usually still be used.
The referendum is considered illegal by, among many others, the Azerbaijani government, who claim that Nagorno-Karabakh is legally part of Azerbaijan. ‘It constitutes a clear violation of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms and principles of international law, and, therefore, has no legal effect whatsoever’, an official statement by the MFA of Azerbaijan reads.
Russian news agency Tass quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that they do not recognise Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state and they don’t believe that a peaceful settlement could depend on holding the referendum.
According to the co-chairs of the Minsk group of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation of Europe (OSCE), which is working to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the results of the referendum ‘in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the conflict’.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory internationally recognised as a part of Azerbaijan, which has not exercised power over most of the region since 1991. Most of the region, which has a majority ethnic Armenian population, is controlled by the de facto Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, backed by Armenia. The conflict, which dates back to the break-up of the Soviet Union, cost the lives of some 30,000 people and displaced 1 million.
Over the last month, Azerbaijan’s official government news agency Azertac has published multiple articles focusing on ethnic Azerbaijani candidates running for the ruling Georgian Dream party, while failing to provide a platform for Azerbaijani opposition candidates.
On 16 October, Azertac interviewed Georgian Dream MP Zaur Darghalli, who said that his party had guaranteed stability in Georgia, and elaborated on how it was able to keep the peace for the last 12 years.
‘These elections are
Ethnic Talysh activist Mirhafiz Jafarzade, who advocated for the creation of Talysh school textbooks in Azerbaijan, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of treason.
Jafarzade, who is also a Russian citizen, was found guilty of treason in the form of espionage on Thursday. Jafarzade was detained by the authorities in November 2022.
That day, pro-government media reported that the trial had determined that Jafarzade worked ‘in secret cooperation with foreign special services
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said Azerbaijan is taking ‘constructive’ actions to facilitate the right to return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, as evidence mounts of the demolition of residential and cultural heritage buildings in Nagorno-Karabakh.
‘We have repeatedly commented on and emphasised the constructive steps taken by Baku to provide the population that left their native places with the opportunity to return there’, Zakharova said during a press briefing o
Peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to be at a standstill as Armenia continues to push for an agreement to be signed ahead of November’s COP29 summit in Baku.
On Tuesday, Sargis Khandanyan, an MP from Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party, told Armenpress that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to organise a meeting to conclude and sign a peace agreement ahead of the summit, which is scheduled to be held in Baku between 11–22 November.
He said that Pashinyan made the offer
Polls have opened in a referendum to amend the constitution of the de facto Republic of Nagorno Karabakh. If approved, the changes would create a presidential system of government, and change the name of the breakaway republic to Artsakh.
