Context: The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast ("Lernayin arabai Inknavar Marz, LIM") was an autonomous oblast within the borders of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, mostly inhabited by ethnic Armenians. According to Robert Service, in 1921 Joseph Stalin, then acting Commissar of Nationalities for the Soviet Union, included Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Karabakh under Azerbaijani control to try to placate Turkey to join the Soviet Union. Had Turkey not been an issue, Stalin would probably have left Karabakh under Armenian control. As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was established with the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic on July 7, 1923. According to Karl R. DeRouen it was created as an enclave so that a narrow strip of land would separate it from Armenia proper. According to Audrey L. Altstadt, the borders of the "oblast" were drawn to include Armenian villages and to exclude as much as possible Azerbaijani villages, so that the resulting area was sure to have an Armenian majority., Karabakh ("Gharabagh" or , "Artsakh") is a geographic region in present-day eastern Armenia and southwestern Azerbaijan, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It includes three regions: Highland Karabakh (historical Artsakh, present-day Nagorno-Karabakh), Lowland Karabakh (the southern Kura-steppes), and a part of Syunik., Armenia ( tr. "Hayastan"), officially the Republic of Armenia (tr. "Hayastani Hanrapetutyun"), is a sovereign state in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located in Western Asia on the "Armenian Highlands", it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Russia and Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan to the south., Nagorno-Karabakh, officially the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR; "Lernayin Gharabaghi Hanrapetut'yun"), Artsakh Republic or Republic of Artsakh ("Arts'akhi Hanrapetut'yun"), is an unrecognised republic in the South Caucasus. The region is considered by the UN to be part of Azerbaijan, but is under the control of ethnic Armenian separatists. The NKR controls most of the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and some of the surrounding area, giving it a border with Armenia to the west, Iran to the south, and the uncontested territory of Azerbaijan to the north and east., The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region at the border of Europe and Asia, situated between the Black and the Caspian seas., Bako Sahakyan ( Armenian :   , born 30 August 1960 , sometimes transcribed as Bako Sahakian or Saakian ) is the fourth president of the unrecognized Nagorno - Karabakh Republic . He was first elected as President on 19 July 2007 and on 19 July 2012 he was re-elected for a second five - year term , receiving around two - third of the votes . Sahakyan replaced Arkadi Ghukasyan , who had held the presidential post for two five - year terms . Sahakyan was born in Stepanakert , NKAO , Azerbaijan SSR in 1960 . After serving in the Soviet army , he worked for nine years in a Stepanakert factory . In 1990 , he joined the Nagorno - Karabakh Defense Army , of which he became a deputy commander . In 1999 , he was named interior minister of Nagorno - Karabakh . He also led the Nagorno - Karabakh security service from 2001 to June 2007 , when he resigned in order to run in the 2007 Nagorno - Karabakh Presidential elections . Bako Sahakyan ran as an independent and won the elections with 85 percent of the votes . Voters mainly turned to Sahakyan because of his record in the security services . He has pledged to seek full independence of Nagorno - Karabakh , using the example that international recognition of Kosovo as an independent state would pave the way for acceptance of Nagorno - Karabakh 's sovereignty . Bako Sahakyan is married and has two children . Sahakyan visited the village of Vank ( Martakert region ) to participate in an opening ceremony of a new building of a local hospital built with financial assistance of philanthropist Levon Hayrapetyan ., Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia, the "de facto" Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Azerbaijan; to the north by the Caspian Sea; to the northeast by Turkmenistan; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Comprising a land area of , it is the second-largest country in the Middle East and the 18th-largest in the world. With 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 17th-most-populous country. It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The country's central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, make it of great geostrategic importance. Tehran is the country's capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic center., Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region, situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having an 8 km border with Turkey in the north west., Subject: bako sahakyan, Relation: ethnic_group, Options: (A) armenia (B) armenians (C) asia (D) europe (E) pakistan
Output: armenians