The separatists controlling Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region have strengthened their executive leader's powers in a referendum that international observers warned was illegal.

The separatist region's de facto Central Election Commission said on February 21 that 87.6 percent of voters supported changing its form of governance from semipresidential to fully presidential.

Nagorno-Karabakh will have no prime minister, and the de facto president will appoint government ministers.

Other amendments include the change of the region's name from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the Republic of Artsakh, but the two names will be treated as synonymous.

Turnout in the February 20 vote was 76 percent, the commission said.

Armenia-backed separatists seized control of mainly Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people. Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict have brought little progress.

Baku and a mediating group from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which consists of U.S., Russian, and French diplomats, have denounced the referendum as illegal.

</s>“Armenia occupied not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but also seven districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenian population never lived. In Nagorno-Karabakh itself 30 percent of the population were of Azerbaijani origin. They all have been expelled. And after that in Nagorno-Karabakh, they held sever so-called referendums. And one of them is held these days, which is absolutely illegal and is not recognized by any country in the world,” President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has told the Munich Security Conference. “By the way, Russia, United States, France and the European Union already issued statements that they do not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent entity, and they do not recognize the outcome of this referendum.”

The President said: “And we hope that Minsk Group co-chairs will be more active than they are today. Of course, Azerbaijan cannot agree with the current situation. Security Council resolutions demanding withdrawal of Armenian troops – immediate and unconditional – were adopted more than twenty years ago and they remain on paper. Three countries of the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs are at the same time permanent members of Security Council. So that means that these resolutions were adopted with their participation. They did not object against these resolutions. But they are not implemented and these leading countries of the world cannot exert enough pressure on aggressor Armenia to pull back from the occupied territories. Therefore, we hope that the conflict will be resolved based on these resolutions,” the head of state added.

“Referendum” held by separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh is absolutely illegal, Azerbaijani President</s>“In response to a query, the spokesperson for the government rejected the media report and said that the Government of Pakistan did not send any observers for so-called referendum in Nagorno Karabakh.

The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the conflict that we support Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Pakistan’s position is that the solution has to be found within the territory of Azerbaijan i.e. complete return of occupied Azeri lands by Armenia, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council, and the withdrawal of Armenian army from Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent districts along with return of IDPs and refugees to their homes.</s>ISLAMABAD, Feb 21 (APP): The Government of Pakistan support Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and sent no observer for so-called referendum in that area.

 In response to a query the Spokesperson (of the Foreign Office) has rejected the media report and said that the Government of Pakistan did not send any observers for so-called referendum in Nagorno Karabakh.

 In a statement issued here Tuesday, the Spokesperson said, “Pakistan’s position is that the solution has to be found within the territory of Azerbaijan i.e. complete return of occupied Azeri lands by Armenia, in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. “Withdrawal of Armenian army from Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent districts; and Return of IDPs and refugees to their homes,” he added.

 “Pakistan is a Member of the OIC Contact Group on Aggression of the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan.”</s>YEREVAN (Sputnik) – The resolution of the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh is impossible without the direct participation of the region in negotiations, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told Sputnik.

"The resolution of the conflict is impossible without the participation of Nagorno-Karabakh. This is clearly understood and this is what the mediators speak of. The Azerbaijani side simply pretends that it does not understand, hiding its head in the sand, but all working documents discussed in recent years envisage direct participation of the Karabakh side in the elaboration of the agreement on comprehensive settlement of the conflict," Nalbandian said.

The minister stressed that the region was not involved in the direct talks with Azerbaijan because of Baku's position.

The conflict escalated in April, with Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of provocations and attacks. On April 5, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire in Moscow following Russian mediation, yet hostilities continued.

On June 20, 2016, the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in St. Petersburg where they reaffirmed their commitment to achieve steady progress in political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and agreed to increase the number of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors working in the conflict zone.</s>Latvia does not recognize the “independence” of Nagorno-Karabakh and the “referendum” which is held there, Latvian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Juris Maklakovs told Trend on February 20.

The so-called “constitutional referendum” is held on February 20 in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, which is now ruled by a puppet regime controlled by Armenia.

Maklakovs stressed that Latvia supports territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Norwegian Embassy in Baku also said on February 20 that Norway recognizes neither the “independence” of Nagorno-Karabakh nor the “referendum” held there.

Earlier, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry as well as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states, namely Russia, the U.S. and France, have also confirmed that they will not recognize the “referendum” in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijani MP Bakhtiyar Sadigov, in turn, urged international organizations to react to the illegal “referendum” in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“By not reacting to the conduction of illegal “referendum” by Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh, international organizations harm their prestige,” he told Trend on February 20.

Sadigov said the “referendum” is designed for the domestic audience of Armenia and it has no legal force.

The MP added that international organizations have always applied double standards towards the issue.

“The four resolutions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which were adopted by the UN Security Council, are still not implemented. And this organization does not respond to it,” the MP said.

He also noted that the OSCE Minsk Group and the co-chair countries undertook mediation in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by peaceful means, but failed to achieve any results so far.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.

Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.</s>Tehran, Iran, Feb. 20 By Mehid Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that "referendum" in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by Armenia, is wrong and unacceptable. He made the remarks during a press conference in Tehran on Feb. 20 while commenting on the "referendum" to be held Feb. 20 in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by Armenia, to amend the illegal regime's "constitution," Trend's correspondent reported from the event.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Trend.</s>News selected on topics and regions - oil and gas, business, politics, IT, the South Caucasus, the Caspian Sea region, Central Asia Ranking of the Azerbaijani banking sector Tehran, Iran, Feb. 20 By Mehid Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that "referendum" in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by Armenia, is wrong and unacceptable. He made the remarks during a press conference in Tehran on Feb. 20 while commenting on the "referendum" to be held Feb. 20 in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, occupied by Armenia, to amend the illegal regime's "constitution," Trend's correspondent reported from the event.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Trend.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow speaks for the search for mutually acceptable ways to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of earlier adopted decisions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

"Of course, we exchanged views on the situation in the Transcaucasus, including the current state of affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. Russia is in favor of continuing to seek mutually acceptable solutions to this conflict, in full conformity with those documents, which were signed with the participation of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in recent years and the leaders of the three co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group — Russia, the US and France," Lavrov said after talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.

He said there was no alternative to the current format of co-chairs of the Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh.

The conflict escalated in April, with Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of provocations and attacks. On April 5, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire in Moscow following Russian mediation, yet hostilities continued.

On June 20, 2016, the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in St. Petersburg where they reaffirmed their commitment to achieve steady progress in political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and agreed to increase the number of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors working in the conflict zone.</s>YEREVAN (Sputnik) — Turkey's "extremely destructive' policies in the South Caucasus continue to isolate it from regional processes and normalizing ties with Armenia, Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan told Sputnik.

"Turkey behaves extremely destructively in the South Caucasus: it continues the blockade of Armenia, it continues to deny the obvious — the fact of Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire," Sargsyan said.

The minister accused Ankara of "retreating" from the 2009-2010 Zurich Protocols, a scrapped agreement aiming to normalize diplomatic relations and opening borders.

"And with its biased attitude toward the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Turkey continues to effectively isolate itself from the regional processes," Sargsyan pointed out.

Armenia insists on the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the international community. The Armenian genocide has already been recognized by Russia and numerous EU countries, as well as the European Parliament.

In early April, the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated and turned violent. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will inevitably return to Azerbaijan. On April 5, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire in Moscow following Russian mediation.
In a referendum held yesterday in the breakaway state of Nagorno-Karabakh (a region long claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia), 87.6% of voters approve changing the country's governance system from semi-presidential to full presidential, therefore abolishing the position of prime minister.