Armenian Area in Azerbaijan Votes to Secede

The Communist Party leadership in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to secede from Azerbaijan and join the neighboring republic of Armenia in an unprecedented challenge to Kremlin rule and the Soviet constitution.

Such open public defiance is likely to draw a tough response from officials in both Moscow and Baku, the Azerbaijani capital. The Kremlin has already shown its impatience with Armenian nationalists by sending non-Armenian army troops into Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh in the past two weeks to suppress unrest.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been ruled by Muslim Azerbaijan under a 1923 treaty with Moscow. Ethnic Armenians make up about 80% of the population, and they claim their traditional rivals, the Azerbaijanis, have tried to suppress the Christian Armenian culture and have discriminated against them in jobs and education.

A spokesman for the Nagorno-Karabakh party council reached by telephone in Stepanakert, the region’s capital, said the council met for three hours and voted to break with the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan and unite with Armenia.

Name Change Voted

The council also voted to change the name of the region to Artakhskaya Armyaskaya, or the Artakh autonomous region of Armenia, its ancient Armenian name.

Just how Nagorno-Karabakh will go about becoming part of the republic of Armenia in defiance of Moscow’s orders is still unknown and there is no precedent on the books to follow.

The decision to break with Azerbaijan is in violation of the Soviet constitution, which states that any decision to alter borders between republics must be agreed to by all parties involved. However, the Armenians note the constitution also calls for self-determination.

Azerbaijan has vowed never to yield the territory, while the Armenian parliament has approved a resolution calling for the incorporation of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The regional council approved a similar resolution in February, but that was a direct appeal to the central government to hand over the region to Armenia. It did not provide for unilateral action.

The February vote triggered sympathy demonstrations in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, which in turn stirred an anti-Armenian backlash in Azerbaijan that left 33 people, including 26 Armenians, dead in rioting Feb. 28.