Stepanakert - The contested Nagorno-Karabakh region holds a presidential poll today, despite warnings from the West that it could hamper moves to end a decade-long conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a rugged mountain region mainly populated by Armenians but surrounded by Azeri territory, broke away from Azerbaijan's rule in 1988 when both republics were still part of the already unravelling Soviet Union. Fighting killed 35,000 people until a ceasefire was declared in 1994 in the wake of huge Armenian territorial gains.
Ethnic Armenians now control all of Karabakh and a large zone around it.