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Historical roots of the conflict From the middle of the XVIII century Azerbaijan went through the period of feudal division and was made up of independent khanates. Upper Karabakh inhabited mainly by Azerbaijanis formed a part of the Azerbaijani Karabakh khanate that included the territories between the Kura and the Araz. When owing to their strategic and geopolitical situation Azerbaijani khanates got involved into the stratagem of fight which was led by Russia, Iran and the Ottoman Empire for the spheres of influence some Azerbaijani entities were forced to conclude vassal agreements in order to defend their interests. Thus, under the treaty of 1805 the independent Azerbaijani khanate of Karabagh was placed under Russian overlordship. As a result of Russian-Iranian war of 1804-1813 and on the basis of the peace treaties of Gulistan and Turkmanchay, the Karabakh khanate together with Erivan and Nakhchevan khanates was included into the Russian Empire. It was exactly in that period when Armenians started to move to the region of Nagorny Karabakh in Azerbaijan which was inhabited mainly by the Azerbaijanis and the descendants of the ancient Albanians. This fact was proved by the famous Russian diplomat and playwright A. S. Griboyedov. Later, in 1836, after the second mass resettlement of Armenians in 1828-1829, the Russian authorities abolished Albanian Christian patriarchate and donated its property to the Armenian Church. After that when the western region of former Albania – the region of Karabakh lost its statehood and the church lost its independence, the local Albanian population was subjected to Gregorianization (Armenization). After the proclamation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic- the first democratic state in the muslim East on May 28, 1918, one of the first moves of its government was the cession of the city of Erivan (Yerevan) to the Republic of Armenia which though proclaimed its independence didn’t have its own land. In that period Azerbaijan’s foreign policy was oriented towards the development of friendly and good-neighbourly relations with Armenia. Unfortunately, nurturing annexing plans the Dashnak government of Armenia made claims for Nakhchevan, Zangezur and Karabakh which formed a part of the Azerbaijani state, though the Armenian minority of Karabakh took a decision at their Congress in 1919 to remain within the Republic of Azerbaijan. Armenia’s claims to this territory caused conflict and led to a murderous war with Azerbaijan in 1918-1920. Azerbaijan’s independence was violated after the invasion of the XI Red Army of Soviet Russia that proclaimed the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic on April 28, 1920. In 1922 the Azerbaijan SSR formed a part of the USSR, within which the Republic’s independence was of a formal character. In response to the territorial claims of the Armenian SSR at its session on July 5, 1921 the Caucasian bureau of the CC of the RCP (b) rendered a decision to leave Nagorny Karabakh within the Azerbaijan SSR, considering it primordial Azerbaijani territory. At the same time taking into account the interests of the local Armenian population the government of Azerbaijan was proposed to grant broad autonomy to Nagorny Karabakh. On July 7, 1923 the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan issued a decree “On the formation of the autonomous region of Nagorny Karabakh”. Thus issuing this norm-setting act and taking into account the interests of its citizens of Armenian nationality the government of the Azerbaijan SSR formed an autonomy on the territory of Azerbaijan. At the same time, 300 thousand compact community of Azerbaijanis living in Armenia were refused to get even cultural autonomy both by the central government of the USSR and the government of the Armenian SSR. It infringed on their rights and finally resulted in their repeated deportations and dramatic forced eviction from the territory of Armenia in this century, including more than 200.000 people in 1988-1989. Chronology of the conflict since 1988 The history of the second in the XX century Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict started in February 1988 when the session of the regional Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR) of the Azerbaijan SSR took a illegal decision about the withdrawal from Azerbaijan and joining Armenia. The tragedy that overstepped the line of the local confrontation and transformed into one of the most prolonged and murderous conflicts in post-war Europe is not based on confessionalism or ethnic factor. Its roots lie in the expansionism and the policy of territorial aggression the aim of which is to extend the territory of one state by means of armed annexation and forcible seizure of a part of the territory of another sovereign state, member of the United Nations, OSCE and other international organizations. Anticonstitutional actions of the separatist groups in the region of Nagorny Karabakh which were supported and monitored from outside and which contradicted the international law and the current soviet legislation were a prologue to the wide-spread armed aggression against Azerbaijan. Starting with the unapproved meetings, strikes and actions of disobedience, the Republic of Armenia passed to the formation of unconstitutional power structures in the region of Nagorny Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Militarized units and a large amount of weapons and ammunition were sent to Azerbaijan and bridgehead for committing armed aggression against Azerbaijan was formed. 1991 At the end of 1991 - the beginning of 1992 full scale military operations started in the zone of Armenian - Azerbaijani conflict. During the military operations in the region of Nagorny Karabakh Armenian military units used sophisticated weapons and in February 1992 they managed to capture the city of Khojali where they brutally killed about 800 civilians including old people, women and children and in May 1992 they occupied the region of Shusha. After that the military operations overstepped the limits of the region and spread inland of Azerbaijan and to the Armenian – Azerbaijani border, including the zone of Nakhchevan. During the period of war 7 more regions of Azerbaijan beside Nagorny Karabakh were occupied. Thus, as a result of aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan more than 17.000 sq. km of land have been occupied, that makes 20% of the whole territory of the country, more than 18.000 people have been killed, more than 50.000 have been wounded and have become invalids, more than 900 settlements, 100 thousand buildings, more than 1 thousand enterprises, more than 600 schools and educational establishments, 250 medical institutions have been robbed and ruined. For the country with the population of 7,5 mln people the number of displaced persons became disastrous – more than 800.000 people and almost 200.000 refugees from Armenia. Humanitarian situation Following the ethnic purges Azerbaijan faced a grave humanitarian situation. A great number of refugees and displaced persons were placed in tent camps, schools and hostels. In spite of great relief efforts they are menaced by colds and epidemics because of the low level of living conditions. The presence of children and old-aged people exacerbate the problem. Chronology of negotiations 1992 International mediation on the settlement of the conflict started in 1992 in the framework of the so-called OSCE Minsk Group process which is the only forum on the formation of the comprehensive model for the settlement of Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict. The OSCE Minsk Group has been formed to take a political decision concerning this problem. It is a forum for the preparation of Minsk Conference. 1993 Following the military operations and the seizure of Azerbaijani cities, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions Nr 822, 853, 854, 884 which provide that Armenian military units should be withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan immediately and unconditionally, and the refugees and displaced persons should be able to return home. The main milestones in the negotiations were OSCE Budapest and Lisbon Summits. 1994 The OSCE Budapest Summit of 1994 took a decision to form an institute of co-chairmen of Minsk conference and entrust them with the duty “to conduct negotiations in order to conclude political agreement on the termination of the armed conflict (Great political agreement), the realization of which will eliminate the main consequences of the armed conflict for all sides and will permit to call Minsk conference”. Thus, Budapest Summit determined the two-phase structure of the settlement process: 1. the first stage – elimination of the consequences of the armed conflict; it means total liberation of all occupied territories and return of all displaced persons to their permanent places of living; 2. the second stage – comprehensive peaceful settlement will be achieved following Minsk conference. Budapest Summit also reached a decision on conducting OCSE peacekeeping operation after concluding the political agreement. Following Budapest Summit the co-chairmen (Russia-Finland) organized and conducted 16 rounds of talks and numerous consultations with the participants of the conflict. In that period of time they reconciled about 75% of the text of the draft of the Agreement and its Addenda. However, as far as the matters of principle are concerned – total liberation of all occupied territories including Shusha and Lachin regions, security for all the participants of the conflict and the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan – the agreement hasn’t been reached. 1996 In his statement at Lisbon Summit in 1996 the president of the OSCE, set up three principles for the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. They are: - Territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. - Legal status of Nagorny Karabakh determined in the agreement and based on the self-determination which grants Nagorny Karabakh the highest degree of self-government within Azerbaijan. - Security guarantees to Nagorny Karabakh and all its population including mutual obligations to observe the settlement provisions by all parties. These principles were supported by 53 OSCE member states, except Armenia. In November 1996 Armenia unilaterally broke off direct consultations between the Presidential Advisers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. 1997 After Lisbon Summit and the establishment of the institution of triple Co-chairmanship (Russia-France-USA) the only one round of talks held in April 1997 was open-ended. In June-September 1997 the Co-chairmanship prepared and brought before the parties a new document which specified a two-stage settlement of the conflict according to the following scheme: - the first stage – the liberation of the 6 regions occupied during the conflict outside the former NKAR (except Lachin region), return the civilians to their homes and reconstruction of the main communications in the region; - the second stage – the settlement of the dispute around Lachin and Shusha regions and adoption of the main principles for the status of Nagorno-Karabakh region. The complete comprehensive settlement of the conflict including the Agreement on the self-government status of Nagorny Karabakh within Azerbaijan will be reached at Minsk conference. In September 1997 Azerbaijan officially informed the Co-chairmanship of the adoption of the document as a basis for the subsequent negotiations. In October 1997 in Strasbourg the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia made a joint statement about their readiness to start negotiations on the basis of the proposals made by the Co-chairmen. In December 1997 in Copenhagen the session of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs OSCE circulated the Report of the Co-chairmen which stressed the need to continue the efforts aimed at the settlement of the conflict on the basis of Lisbon principles and the proposals of the Co-chairmanship. 1998 On May 13-17, 1998 during the visit of the Co-chairmen to the region, Armenia officially declared the recall of the consent of the former President of Armenia to the proposals on the phased settlement and spoke for the “package” settlement without any preconditions. Armenia strongly objects to the principles of Lisbon Summit and seeks the discussion of the status of Nagorny Karabakh as an independent state. 1999 On April 2, 1999, a meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia during the CIS Summit in Moscow was held at which an agreement was reached on undertaking a series of meetings for discussing the problems of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. An exchange of views and positions of the parties was continues at the meetings of the presidents on April 24 in Washington, on August 16 and 22 in Geneva, on September 10 in Yalta and on October 11 in the village of Sadarak. During the meetings an agreement was reached on the consultations between MFA and MoD of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the problems of enforcement of the cease-fire rejime, confidence-building measures, procedures of preventing and settlement of the border incidents, as well as the development of the agreed basis for the resumption of the negotiations process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. As an implementation of the agreement meetings and consultations of defence ministers (September 14 and October 11) and of foreign ministers (Seprtember 10, September 30 and October 12) of Azerbaijan and Armenia were held. On September 18, 1999, during the visit of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office K.Vollebaek to Baku it was declared that the meetings and consultations of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia did not substitute the OSCE Minsk process and the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group was called to speed up their activities and make a new proposal acceptable to both parties. On November 18-19, 1999, in the Final Document of the OSCE Istanbul Summit and in the report of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office it was once again underlined that the Minsk Group was the most suitable format for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem, the continuation of the dialogue of two presidents which is to complement the Minsk process was welcomed, and the parties were called to resume as soon as possible the negotiations on the conflict settlement. The European Security Charter was adopted at the OSCE Istanbul Summit. It is a legally-binding document that confirms the OSCE principles and norms and the resulting commitments of the states on the observance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity. On December 13-15, 1999, the first visit of new Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was held. The Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group declared that they would begin the work on new proposals that would be based on the elements on which the agreement had been reached at the meetings of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. In its actiities on the settlement of the conflict the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group will pay a considerable attention to the economic development of the region. On this purpose the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group expressed their intention to appeal to the world financial institutions, public and non-governmental organizations to send experts to the region in order to carry out the works on estimating the costs of the reconstruction of the region. 2000 On January 24, 2000, during the Summit of the CIS member-states in Moscow a separate meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and on January 25 a quadripartite meeting with the participation of presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the Acting President of the Russian Federation V.Putin were held. Consultations between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia were resumde during the meetings and it was declared that the policy of the "Four" in the region will be based on the principles of the international law and, first of all, on the absolute acknowledgement of the principle of territorial integrity of the sovereign states. On January 28, 2000, at the World Economic Forum in Davos the consultations between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on searching the ways of peacefull settlement of the conflict. The foreign ministers of the two countries took part in the meeting. On July 20, 2000, during the Summit of the CIS member-states in Moscow a quadripartite meeting with the participation of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the Russian Federation was held. The questions of peaceful settlement of conflicts in South Caucasus, the problem of consolidation of regional security, including the cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism as well as in humanitarian and other fields. The text of joint statement signed as a result of the meeting of three presidents was also circulated. The statement says that the sides expressed their adherence to the continuation of meetings in this format, welcomed the initiative of the world community and international organisations, which assist the acceleration of settlement of conflicts in South Caucasus. Heads of states agreed that such meetings will be held not less than two times a year and as a rule will be held during CIS summits. On July 2-5, 2000, the visit by the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was held. In their activities on the settlement of the conflict a great attention was paid to the economic development of the region. With this aim the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group appealed to the world financial institutes, social non-governmental organisations to send experts to the region to estimate the possibilities of its economic reconstruction. During the visit, the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group made a statement that they would search the methods of modifying the plan of the Karabakh conflict settlement. On November 30, 2000 in Minsk during the Summit of the heads of the countries of CIS the bilateral meeting of the President of Azerbaijan H. Aliyev and of Armenia R. Kocharyan took place. After the ending of the meeting the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev declared that he was satisfied on the whole with last negotiations. The President H. Aliyev justified his satisfaction by unofficial feature of the meeting but that the Presidents of these two countries are in the process of the search of the ways of the solution of Nagorniy Karabakh problem. As the President of Armenia R. Kocharyan noticed in his turn, the agreement about the intensification of the meetings was achieved at the meeting. 2001 On January 25, 2001 in Paris negotiations of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan and Heydar Aliyev in the presence of the President of Republic of France Jacques Chiraq. In the briefing after the negotiations, which took place in Paris in Yelisey Palace in the presence of the President of the Republic of France Jacques Chiraq, the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan noticed, that "the complete solution of the problem was maybe achieved at the attraction to the negotiations of the representatives of Nagorniy Karabakh". The President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev said in his turn that "as soon as we come to something concrete at the bilateral negotiations with the leader of Armenia, perhaps the third part may appear ". Both Presidents characterized their bilateral negotiations in Paris as "rather positive", having informed, that they outlined the plan of the following meeting in the very near future. May 31, 2001 - At the CIS Summit in Minsk the trilateral meeting among President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and President of Russia Vladimir Putin was held. During the meeting the three presidents discussed the problem of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. August 1, 2001 - At the informal Summit of the CIS countries in Sochi President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan held a bilateral meeting. During the meeting they had a wide discussion on the problem of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Currently the Co-Chairs are pursuing their objective to present a compromise settlement plan to the conflict based on the principles of international law. 2002 March 8 - In search of the advancing the peace process, the Co-chairmen suggested to appoint Special Representatives of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia for negotiations on the conflict. The Special Representatives met three times during a year, twice in Prague - in May and July and once in Vienna - in November; July 12 - In the final document of the EU-Azerbaijan Cooperation Committee, the EU reaffirmed its support to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as the basis for the peaceful solution of the conflict; August 2 - The EU condemned holding of the so-called "presidential elections" in Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 2003 January 23 - An Enlarged Bureau of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers held a special session in Strasburg on the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken by Azerbaijan and Armenia to peacefully settle the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. January 30 - The Secretary General of the Council of Europe voiced regret at the recent declaration on "ethnic incompatibility between Armenians and Azerbaijanis", made by President Kocharian of Armenia. "Recalling dark pages of European history will never be a good electoral strategy", underlined Walter Schwimmer in reference to the upcoming presidential elections in Armenia, scheduled for 19 February. February 19 - March 5 The presidential elections in Armenia. first round - second round R. Kocharyan was elected as the president of the Republic of Armenia for his second term. The observers of OSCE/ODIHR, CE Parliamentary Assembly reported that the elections were held with serious irregularities. June 19 - The coalition government of Armenia submitted its action plan for the next four years to the parliament. The section "Defense and Security" of this program states that, "as in previous years, the government sees the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem within peace negotiation process, emphasizing international recognition of the right of the "Artsakh" (Nagorno-Karabakh) people to self-determination and security guarantees of the population of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic". The very possibility of subordination of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" to Azerbaijan is ruled out." During the presentation of the program, the Armenian Prime Minister A.Markaryan, speaking about the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, said: "Karabakh must not be part of Azerbaijan, must have a common border with Armenia and that the self-determination of the Karabakh Armenians must be recognized by the world". August 19 - During monitoring held by the Office of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan the Armenian side again broke ceasefire regime, as a result of which the monitoring process was immediately stopped. Unfortunately, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprczyk refused to mention this fact in his information report. September - Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group from Russia N.Gribkov was replaced by Y.Merzlyakov. During his visit to the region he held series of meetings with Azerbaijani officials on September 3-5. October 15 - The presidential elections in Azerbaijan. Ilham Aliyev was elected as the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan for his first term. December 11 - The first meeting of the President of Azerbaijan Mr. I.Aliyev with his Armenian counterpart in Geneva. 2004 April 16 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Cochairmen in Prague. April 28-30 - The meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Warsaw. May 12-13 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Cochairmen in Strasbourg. June 21 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Cochairmen in Prague. June 28/29 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the presence of the Turkish Foreign Minister Mr. Abdullah Gul in Istanbul August 3-12 - Command staff exercises conducted by Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan in its statement drew the attention of the international community to the fact that conducting of these exercises is another obvious evidence of the aggression by the Republic of Armenia against the Republic of Azerbaijan, and of occupation of its territories. August 8 - "elections" to the "local self-government bodies" were held by the authorities of the Armenian separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. In the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan it was noted that such kind of "elections" may not pretend to have a single piece of legitimacy because they are in complete contradiction with the norms of international law, as well as with the national legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, since they are being held in conditions of continuing aggression, occupation and forceful expulsion of one third of the indigenous population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Azerbaijani origin. August 30 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Cochairmen in Prague. September 15 - The meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan within the CIS Summit in Astana. The President of Armenia Robert Kocharian requested to delay the following Prague meeting (25th of October 2004) of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia for need to analyze and comprehend the results of the previous four meetings of FMs. October 14 - Azerbaijan requested the inclusion of an additional item in the agenda of the fifty-ninth session of the UN General Assembly, entitled "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan". October 29 - Acting on the recommendations of its General Committee, the UN General Assembly decided to include an additional item on its current agenda entitled "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan". It took that decision by a recorded vote of 43 in favour to 1 against (Armenia) with 99 abstentions. November 19 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Berlin. November 23 - Additional item #163 "The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan" was debated on the 59th session of UN General Assembly. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan gave a speech concerning the content of the additional item and illegal activities of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. December 5 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Cochairmen in Sofia. December 6-7 - The meeting of the 12th OSCE Ministerial Council in Sofia. The adoption of the Ministerial Council statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which "commend the progress achieved in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2004, in particular, the three meetings of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan under the auspices of the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group and welcome the creation of the so-called "Prague Process", through which four meetings between the Foreign Ministers of both countries allowed the methodical re-examination of all the parameters of a future settlement". December 9 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Brussels in the framework of NATO EAPC Ministerial. 2005 January 11 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen in Prague. January 25 - Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution 1416. The resolution reaffirms "that independence and secession of a regional territory from a state may only be achieved through a lawful and peaceful process based on democratic support by the inhabitants of such territory and not in the wake of an armed conflict leading to ethnic expulsion and the de facto annexation of such territory to another state." The Assembly calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to make use OSCE Minsk Process and actively submit to each other via the Minsk Group their constructive proposals for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. David Atkinson, special PACE Rapporteur on Nagorno-Karabakh, the author of the resolution and recommendations, responding to the question of the BBC correspondent on the principle of territorial integrity vs. the principle of self-determination in resolution of the conflict, stated that principle of self-determination can not be applied to the case of Nagorno-Karabakh, because Azerbaijan stands for its territorial integrity, recognized by international community. January 30 - February 5 - The visit by the "OSCE Minsk Group Fact-Finding Mission on Settlements in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan" to the occupied territories - Aghdam, Jabrayil, Fizuli, Zangilan, Gubadly, Kalbajar and Lachin - of Azerbaijan. February - The OSCE dispatch Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the Armenian illegal settlements in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. March 2 - The meeting of the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Prague. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs officially presented a report of the OSCE Minsk Group Fact-Finding Mission (FFM). In their joint statement Co-Chairs pointed that "the mission found evidence of the presence of settlers in the territories examined" and recommended "that any further settlement of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan should be discouraged". They urged "the parties to accelerate negotiations toward a political settlement in order, inter alia, to address the problem of the settlers and to avoid changes in the demographic structure of the region, which would make more difficult any future efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement". In his comments Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammedyarov considered the FFM report as objective in general. The FFM determined about 16,000 settlers in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan outside the Nagorno-Karabakh region. "It is clear that the longer they remain in the occupied territories, the deeper their roots and attachments to their present places of residence will become. Prolonged continuation of this situation could lead to a fait accompli that would seriously complicate the peace process" said Co-Chairs' statement. April 15 - Continuation of "Prague process" in London. Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and Armenia met separately with the Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group to discuss further steps to resolve the conflict. The mediators - France, Russia and the US declared that the peace process has entered a "sensitive juncture, where a first step towards an agreement could be at hand in the framework of the discussions between the parties." April 27 - The meeting of the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Frankfurt. In the threshold of the Council of Europe's Summit in Warsaw Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Robert Kocharyan of Armenia met at the Belvedere palace in the presence of the OSCE Minsk group Co-chairs, and Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Michel Barnier of France. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov has briefed journalists on the three-hour meeting. "Despite certain progress has been reached, there is still a need for further discussion," he said. The Minister added that after the meeting the Presidents have assigned the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia to continue negotiating some important issues other than those agreed within the Prague process. According to him, the Co-chairs will also continue their activities. "Generally, no format of the talks but their result is important for Azerbaijan, in other words, territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored," the Minister said. June 17 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Paris. June 19 - "Elections" to the "parliament" were held by the authorities of the Armenian separatist regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. In its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan noted that such kind of "elections" may not pretend to have a single piece of legitimacy because they are in complete contradiction with the norms of international law, as well as with the national legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, since they are being held in conditions of continuing aggression, occupation and ethnic cleansing. It states that such activities by Armenian side do not fit with the spirit of negotiation process, esp. when there is a hope for positive step forwards and that continuous peace cannot be achieved without normalization of life and peaceful co-existence and cooperation of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan. July 5 - The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly considered a report on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict at its session held in Washington. The report prepared by the Assembly's special envoy on the conflict Goran Lennmarker from Sweden. In his comments Mr. Lennmarker stressed that "the conflict is not frozen. Several people are killed along the line-of-contact every year". He added: "there is no alternative to a peaceful solution - in fact there is an urgent need to solve the conflict in order to end the personal, economic, and social suffering on both sides of this conflict". Mr. Lennmarker suggested basing a solution on experiences from Europe, where democracy and integration are fundamental components in securing a lasting peace. The report points out the fundamentals of ending of occupation, the return of refugees and IDPs as well as democracy and minority rights. Swedish diplomat recommends autonomy solution referring to an example of the Aland islands. July 10-12 - The OSCE Group Co-Chairs (Ambassadors Steven Mann of the U.S., Yuriy Merzlyakov of Russia and Bernard Fassier of France) visited Azerbaijan and Armenia. In Azerbaijan they met with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov as well as with Nizami Bakhmanov, the head of the expelled Azerbaijani community from the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The Co-chairs told journalists at a press conference on July 12 that they discussed with President and Foreign Minister the principles, which could have become a basis for the future peace treaty. Mediators pointed out that much would depend on the two leaderships' political will and the peoples' desire. During the meetings Co-Chairs discussed, among other issues, an Azerbaijani initiative to open a road network Agdam-Khankendi-Shusha-Lachin-Goris-Nakhichevan which would open communication line from Azerbaijan to Armenia and Nakhichevan enclave of Azerbaijan as well as Turkey. Nizami Bkhamanov positively responded to an idea of launching a dialogue between Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Araz Azimov commented Co-Chairs' meetings in Baku as "effective and fruitful." But he said that "negotiations were rather difficult and complicated." "I can't say that agreements have been reached. At all the meetings Azerbaijan has demonstrated a constructive position. Armenia also should occupy a constructive position, otherwise all opportunities will be missed," said Azimov. Azimov pointed out that Armenia tries to bring "new elements," which are not subject of the negotiations. "There are great chances to achieve peace right now and the opposing party can lose them. I urge Armenia to use this chance," said Azimov. "Azerbaijani occupied territories must be given back. Armenia must not claim to Azerbaijani territories under the pretext of the corridor (linking Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan). Armenia can use the road passing through the Lachin corridor. But Lachin city cannot remain under occupation." Opening of Agdam-Khankendi-Shusha-Lachin-Goris-Nakhichevan road will help to improve relationships and restore cooperation and confidence between people, said Azimov. He also stressed that the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region could be resolved only through joint efforts of Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno-Karabakh. "At present, part of people living in Nagorno Karabakh is Armenians, who arrived from abroad. Local Armenians are Azerbaijani citizens and Azerbaijanis must determine their status by themselves. For this purpose Azerbaijani population must return to the liberated territories and economic relationships and mutual confidence must be restored," said Azimov. August 12 - In its Address to the voters, the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Azerbaijan notified of the start of functioning of Khankendi Constituency No. 122 and called all citizens of Azerbaijan of Armenian origin living in Khankendi, Shusha, Khojali, Khojavend and other settlements of Nagorno Karabakh regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, together with their countrymen to exercise their voting rights in Khankendi Constituency No. 122 and Shusha-Fuzuli-Khojali-Khojavend Constituency No. 124. August 24 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Moscow. August 26-27 - The meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan within the CIS Summit in Kazan. September 12 - The item entitled "The situation on the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan" was included into the agenda of the 60-th session of the UN General Assembly. On the same day the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held discussion on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in Paris. The PACE decided to follow further the process of honouring by two sides the decisions contained in the January 2005 PACE resolution on the conflict settlement. September 14 - An international organization - International Crisis Group (ICG) working to prevent conflicts worldwide has issued report on Armenia-Azerbaijani conflict. ICG vice-president Alain Deletroz told at news conference in Baku that Armenia should not insist on the determination of the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, as disputes over the issue have considerably delayed the conflict resolution. "Armenia must withdraw from seven occupied Azerbaijani districts, refugees should return home, trust be restored between the two sides, and at last, the Karabakh status determined." Deletroz said that the activities to be carried out prior to the status determination will take at least 15-20 years. Deletroz said that just like all other international organizations, the ICG considers the Nagorno-Karabakh a part of Azerbaijan. "This is the legal aspect of the issue and there is no problem with it. The problem is that the Nagorno-Karabakh is de-facto in the hands of Armenians." The ICG project director on South Caucasus Sabin Frasier said the organization has welcomed the resumption of activity of the Khankandi district constituency in the Nagorno-Karabakh, which will allow ethnic Armenian citizens of Azerbaijan to vote in the November parliament elections in Azerbaijan. December 5 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Ljubljana within the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting. December 5-6 - The meeting of the 13th OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana. The adoption of the Ministerial Council statement on the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Group, which "takes note with satisfaction of the progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations through the "Prague Process" in 2005, and in particular the two meetings of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Warsaw and Kazan under the auspices of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, and encourages the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to use the current promising window of opportunity in order to attain within the coming year significant achievements in the settlement of the conflict in the framework of the OSCE Minsk process." December 16 - The visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Azerbaijan. December 16-20 - The reconnaissance trip of the High-Level Planning Group (HLPG) of the OSCE to Azerbaijan. 2006 January 18-19 - The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in London. January 20-27 - The reconnaissance trip of the High-Level Planning Group (HLPG) of the OSCE to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. February 1 - The visit of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Azerbaijan. Arms supplies to Armenia Illegal supplies of Russian arms to Armenia from 1993 till 1994 including 84 tanks T-72, 50 CIV, 32 operational-tactical missiles P-17 capable of a range of 300 km and capable of carrying nuclear warheads as well as other arms amounted to 1 billion US dollars cause Azerbaijan a lot of trouble. These supplies violate the rules of international law and the principles of peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Such illegal actions contradict UN Security Council resolution 853, the Statement of the President of the Security Council of August 18, 1993 and the decisions of the OSCE High-ranking Officials Committee of February 28 and March 14, 1992 which demand that the military supplies to the states involved in the conflict should be stopped, since they facilitate the escalation of the conflict and the maintenance of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Illegal supplies also contradict the provisions of the Agreement on Conventional Forces in Europe. Ceasefire violation It has been four years since the agreement on ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994. However, in the last years provocative activities of the Armenian military units being stationed along the contact line have assumed an impudent character pursuing an aim to force Azerbaijan to start a new spiral of military operations. It should be noted that Armenia has violated the agreement on ceasefire 1421 times since May 1994. Release of prisoners of war The work connected with the release of the prisoners of war and hostages is being continued through the mediation of ICRC. In the period from 1993 till May 2004 as a result of the interchange between the countries, 357 people were released – 102 Armenians and 255 Azerbaijanis. At the same time according to the MNS of the Republic of Azerbaijan there are still more than 800 Azerbaijanis in Armenia and the region of Nagorny Karabakh. |