Separatist parliament in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region elects new president

Lawmakers in a breakaway Armenian-populated region of Azerbaijan have elected a new separatist president in a move that was strongly condemned by the Azerbaijani authorities. Samvel Shakhramanyan’s election on Saturday as the new president of Nagorno-Karabakh comes amid soaring tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry denounced the vote as a “gross violation” of the country’s constitution and a “serious blow to the efforts of normalization in the region.” Azerbaijan has blockaded the only road leading from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh since December. That has severely restricting the delivery of food, medical supplies and other essentials to the region of about 120,000 people.