Merkel's ruling CDU party suffers state poll blow![]() September 5, 2016 - 10:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party has been beaten into third place by an anti-immigrant and anti-Islam party in elections in a north-eastern German state, partial results have shown, according to BBC News. The Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party took about 21% of the vote behind the centre-left SPD's 30%. The German chancellor's CDU was backed by only about 19% of those who voted, according to the partial results. The vote was seen as a key test before German parliamentary elections in 2017. Before the vote in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in the former East Germany, all of Germany's other parties ruled out forming a governing coalition with the AfD. However, the party's strong showing could weaken Merkel ahead of the national elections next year, BBC News said. ![]() ![]() Azerbaijani authorities report that they have already resettled 3,000 people in the Nagorno-Karabakh town of Stepanakert. On June 10, Azerbaijani President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will leave for Turkey on a working visit. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. ![]() ![]() Partner news | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |