Local self-government elections postponed in Artsakh for one year
YEREVAN, February 18. /ARKA/. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) president Arayik Harutyunyan signed a decree to postpone local self-government elections until March 1, 2022. The reason is the martial law that was declared after the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression.
"The initiative to postpone the elections came from the Artsakh Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure," Minister Hayk Khanumyan said on his Facebook page.
He said that during the hostilities, the heads of three communities died (two of whom died in the war) and heads of another 8 communities resigned before the end of their term in office.
"Considering the fact that 5 out of 11 mentioned communities are temporarily under the control of Azerbaijan, and their residents are currently forced to live in various settlements of Artsakh and Armenia, it is technically impossible to hold early elections," Khanumyan wrote. Local self-government elections are expected to be held in Artsakh under the amended legislation.
On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and phosphorus weapons.
After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the parties stopped at where they were at that time. The town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia.
A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to Karabakh and adjacent regions, prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and bodies of the dead are being exchanged.--0-
