Since 1923, Nagorno-Karabakh, which had a population of 162,000, 123,000 of them Armenians, according to the last census in 1979, has been governed as an autonomous region of the Azerbaijani republic.

Almost all telephone connections from Moscow to the affected areas in the Armenian and Azerbaijani republics were cut off, and the Government temporarily banned travel to the region by foreign reporters.

Soviet Border Unrest The Communist Party leader in a troubled border region of the Azerbaijani republic was forced to resign after violent clashes near the Soviet border with Iran.

The Azerbaijani republic has endorsed Mr. Gorbachev's plan for maintaining union while the Armenian government has rejected it.

He was quoted by L'Humanite, the French Communist newspaper, as saying that the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani republic deserved to be linked to the Armenian republic.

On Tuesday, the national Legislature approved measures placing the territory largely under the government of the Azerbaijani republic.

Political developments proceeded apace, with the leader of the Azerbaijani republic running unopposed for President and opposition members boycotting the ballot.

In successive votes last month, the Armenian legislature called for the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Azerbaijani legislature overwhelmingly called for its retention as part of the Azerbaijani republic.

Reports by the press agency Tass indicated that disturbances were continuing in the Armenian and Azerbaijani republics and that local government and party agencies were having difficulty restoring order.

They would be joined the next morning by Ekhtibar Mamedov, seized in a K.G.B. raid on the Moscow office of the Azerbaijani republic.