AZERBAIJAN’S separatist Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh began voting today to elect their new president as tensions spiralled between arch-rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia over the breakaway enclave.

Azerbaijan called the election “yet another extremely provocative step and a clear violation of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Nagorno-Karabakh’s parliament is electing the new leader and voting began at 0700 GMT.

The head of the security council in the rebel government, Samvel Shahramanyan, is widely seen as the most likely successor to the outgoing leader Arayik Harutyunyan who stepped down on September 1.

Popular frustration with Harutyunyan’s rule was growing amid lingering food shortages after Azerbaijan closed the sole road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have traded accusations of cross-border attacks in recent months.

Armenia warned of the risk of a fresh conflict, saying Azerbaijan was massing troops on the countries’ shared border and near Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry on Friday accused Armenia of violating “previous agreements and… resorting to various political, military and other provocations.” 

Yerevan said it was “committed to the settlement of all outstanding issues with Azerbaijan purely through political and diplomatic means.”

Azerbaijan’s Armenian-populated enclave was at the centre of two wars between the Caucasus neighbours.

Six weeks of fighting in autumn 2020 ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire that saw Armenia ceding swathes of territories it had controlled for decades.

The two sides have been unable to reach a lasting peace settlement despite mediation efforts by the European Union, the United States, and Russia. – AFP, September 9, 2023