National Assembly of Azerbaijan abolishes the autonomous status of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan and renames several cities back to their original names.
The Law on Abolishment of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (Resolution No. 279-XII) was a motion passed by the National Assembly of Azerbaijan and signed into law by the President of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov on November 26, 1991. The law had been prompted by a vote in the National Assembly of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in favor of uniting itself with the Armenian SSR on 20 February 1988. The vote was followed by an independence referendum in 1991 which was boycotted by the Azerbaijani population of the Oblast; most voted in favor of independence. While these votes and elections had mainly been conducted in a relatively peaceful manner, in the following months, as the Soviet Union disintegrated, it gradually grew into an increasingly violent conflict between ethnic Armenians and ethnic Azerbaijanis. Both sides claimed that ethnic cleansing was being carried out. The declaration of secession from Azerbaijan was the final result of a territorial conflict regarding the land.
The National Assembly (Azerbaijani: Milli Məclis), also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat constituencies and 25 were members elected by proportional representation; as of the latest election, however, all 125 deputies are returned from single-member constituencies.
Power in Azerbaijan is heavily concentrated in Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan. Parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are not free and fair.