Armenia Parliament Avoids Voting On Karabakh

A majority of factions in the Armenian parliament have refused to take part in a vote to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Only 11 lawmakers out of 131 took part in the November 13 voting, of which 10 voted for recognition of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, with one abstention.

The proposal to recognize the region's independence was made by the opposition Heritage faction.

The majority of the lawmakers said recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh would mar ongoing peace talks.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, which local Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan, seized from Azerbaijan during a devastating war in the 1990s.

Last week, Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, agreed to meet later this month to resume talks on Nagorno-Karabakh, which remains unrecognized by any country.