A total absence of the opposition is likely to make Karabakh’s upcoming parliamentary elections different from the previous four votes conducted in the Armenian republic since it declared its independence from Baku and convoked its first legislative body in 1991. The vote is scheduled for May 23 this year.

It is already the fifteenth year that the coming of spring along the Line of Contact of Armenian and Azerbaijani forces is marked by increased deadly sniper activity.

This is connected with the start of spring agricultural work in areas near the border, which largely predetermines the crop capacity of the year for the local farmers and, therefore, the degree of population in the near-frontline area.

On March 3, in accordance with the earlier achieved agreement with the NKR authorities the OSCE mission conducted а regular monitoring of the line of contact of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the northern direction of Talish settlement of Martakert region, NKR.

According to the data of the NKR MFA Consular Service, despite the world financial crisis, the total number of foreign citizens having visited the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters of 2009 increased by 10% as compared with the similar period of 2008.

The events of late February 1988 in the town of Sumgait shocked the international community with their savagery and brutality. They became an embodiment of the Azerbaijani authorities’ policy of hatred towards Armenians conducted within the whole soviet period.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Safar Abiyev issued more war threats against Armenia and Karabakh on February 25 as he pointed out that “for 15 years diplomacy has not achieved any concrete results and Azerbaijan cannot wait another 15 years.”

“Now it’s the military’s turn and the threat is growing every day. If aggressor Armenia does not end its occupation of Azerbaijan's territory, the beginning of a great war in the South Caucasus is inevitable,” said Abiyev.

To get doubtful propagandistic dividends, the Azerbaijani authorities keep cashing in on the humanitarian issues of prisoners of war, manipulating impudently Armenian citizens in the Azerbaijani prisons.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that Turkey was freer than many western countries in the aspect of freedoms.

Corresponding events dedicated to the Artsakh Revival Day and the 22nd anniversary of the Karabakh National-Liberation Movement took place in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

Karabakh President Bako Sahakyan has made a new proposal on the settlement of the ongoing conflict. Following his meeting with OSCE Chairman-in-Office Kanat Saudabayev on February 16 he stated that he had suggested discussing issues of territorial integrity in the legal plane and that other issues should be discussed during political negotiations.

Sahakyan did not elaborate on the essence of his suggestion, however, head of his administration’s Information Department David Babayan told media that Karabakh suggests starting negotiations on a new basis.