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Azerbaijan President Cements Power in Boycotted Parliamentary Polls

Azerbaijan's ruling party won a majority in disputed parliamentary polls that were boycotted by all major opposition forces, final results showed Monday, cementing strongman President Ilham Aliyev's grip on power.

Aliyev's Yeni(New) Azerbaijan party took 71 seats in the country's 125-seat parliament, with all votes counted, the Central Election Commission chief, Mazakhir Panakhov, told a news conference.

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Azerbaijan Jails Two for Fighting with IS Militants

Azerbaijan on Tuesday sentenced two men to 14 years in jail for fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, authorities in the ex-Soviet republic said.

The energy-rich Caucasus nation's security ministry "arrested the two Azerbaijani nationals in April over fighting in Syria and Iraq," a Baku court spokesman told AFP.

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Three Azeris Dead in 'Heavy Fighting' over Karabakh

Armenian forces killed three Azerbaijani troops in fierce clashes overnight, Azerbaijan said Monday, as tensions spiral in the Caucasus neighbors' protracted conflict over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh.

"Three Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in heavy fighting" with Armenian forces across the frontline of breakaway Nagorny Karabakh, Azerbaijan's defense ministry said in a statement.

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Azerbaijani Shelling Kills 3 Women in Armenia

Azerbaijani forces on Thursday shelled Armenia, killing three civilian women, officials in Yerevan said, as tensions mounted in the Caucasus neighbors' decades-long conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.

Three women aged up to 94 "died as a result of shelling by Azerbaijani armed forces" in Armenia's north-eastern Tavush region close to the border with Azerbaijan, Armenia's interior ministry spokesman Ashot Agaronyan told AFP.

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Azerbaijan Sentences Three to Prison for Fighting in Syria

A court in ex-Soviet Azerbaijan on Wednesday slapped jail terms of between 12 and 14 years on three men for fighting in Syria, a source familiar with the case told AFP.

Bakhtiyar Shahbazi and Sadig Mamedzade got 14 years while Shahbazi's son, Bahruz, was handed 12 years after having been found guilty of taking part in an armed conflict outside their country.

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Azerbaijani Troops Kill Armenian Soldier

Azerbaijani troops on Wednesday killed an Armenian soldier in the latest clash along the volatile border of the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region, separatist officials said. 

"Soldier Karen Hovhannisyan was fatally injured from a shot coming from the enemy's side," the defense ministry of the contested Armenian-backed region said.  

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Flare-up in Tensions as Armenian Troops Kill Azerbaijani Soldier

Azerbaijan on Saturday accused arch-foe Armenia's troops of killing its soldier in a new clash amid a Western-mediated push to cauterize the protracted conflict in the South Caucasus.

Friday's skirmish violating the brittle truce comes a day after the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that the presidents of the two feuding nations were ready to "meet each other later this year" in an effort to end years of hostility.

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Azerbaijan Jails 10 for Fighting with IS Radicals

A court in Azerbaijan on Wednesday sentenced 10 people to jail terms of between four to 15 years for joining Islamic State fighters, a spokesman said.

"They were among 26 people arrested in 2014 by the national security ministry," a spokesman for the Baku court for serious crimes told AFP.

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Thousands Flee to Turkey as Kurds Advance on IS-held Syria Town

Kurdish forces advanced Sunday to the gates of a Syrian town and clashed with Islamic State jihadists, an upsurge in violence that saw Turkey open its border to fleeing civilians.

Backed by Syrian rebel fighters and U.S.-led air strikes, the Kurdish militia pressed their offensive on the northern town of Tal Abyad, a strategic supply route from Turkey to IS' self-proclaimed capital of Raqa.

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Putin Meets Erdogan for Closed-Door Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday met Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks expected to touch on energy issues and the Syria crisis.

The two leaders met a day after attending the opening ceremony of the inaugural European Games, hosted by Azerbaijan and tainted by controversy over the ex-Soviet country's rights record.

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