Azerbaijan said on Saturday that Armenian forces had fired on its troops overnight, and that Azerbaijan army units took "retaliatory measures". Azerbaijan's foreign ministry called the ethnic Armenian leadership of Karabakh a "puppet separatist regime" and said the vote was illegal. Both Ukraine and Baku's traditional ally Turkey condemned the election, and expressed support for Azerbaijan's claim to Karabakh. In the capitals of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, residents told Reuters they feared a new war between the two countries. In Armenia's capital Yerevan, a local resident who gave his name as Hayk accused Azerbaijan of wanting to start another war.

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