Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of attempted incursions. Azerbaijan says it has suffered casualties overnight. Armenian sources say they killed two Azerbaijani soldiers and suffered no casualties
A 20 year old Azerbaijani soldier was killed by Armenian shelling, and a 26 year old Armenian died in unclear circumstances in the last twenty four hours. Other casualties are reported but cannot be confirmed.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will on Monday (27 February) start an official visit to the European institutions in Brussels. The visit comes as Armenia and the EU finalise a new framework agreement that will form the basis of their relations for the next decade.
Vasgen Sargsian said that the system was under the operational control of Armenia, which sees it both as a deterrant, and as a guaranteed strike weapon, if necessary.
Mrs Aliyeva is the wife of the Azerbaijani President. President Aliyev later introduced the new 1st Vice president to members of the National Security Council. Reaction in Azerbaijan to the appointment has been mixed. Turkish President Erdogan congratulated president Aliyev and Vice President Aliyeva in a phone cponversation this evening.
In the vote on Monday, 69,540 voted in favour and 7,686 voted against, to proposals to change the constitution of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. 2,202 votes were invalid. 79,428 voters (76.44% of those registered) participated in the referendum.
President Sargsyan said he sees no reason to believe that there can be a breakthrough in the negotiations to resolve the Karabakh conflict. "Under such circumstances, the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the only way to maintain stability and fragile peace", he told a meeting of senior officers.
The referendum in the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is to approve constitutional changes that aim to introduce a presidential system. The international community has dismissed the referendum as irrelevant.