CONTEMPORARY EURASIA IX ( 2 )
Zheleznovodsk . As a result of this meeting , a declaration was signed by the four leaders of Russia , Kazakhstan , Armenia , and Azerbaijan . 24 However , this first attempt was doomed to failure as events on the ground were not favorable . 25
The second attempt came from Iran in early 1992 , when the Iranian President Rafsanjani invited the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan , Levon Ter-Petrosyan , Yaqub Mammedov , respectively , to Tehran for negotiations . On May 7 , the three states ' leaders issued the so-called Tehran Communique , which mandated a ceasefire and the reopening communication links between Armenia and Azerbaijan . 26 Nonetheless , the circumstances again were not favorable for the ceasefire as on the day after this communique , Armenian forces liberated Shushi , and the proposed ceasefire did not go into force .
The ceasefire was established on May 12 , 1994 , and entered into force mostly with Russian pressure . 27 Thus , by mid-1994 , the active phase of hostilities ended . Soon thereafter , the CSCE adopted a new structure for its mediation efforts . As a result of the Budapest Summit , on December 6 , 1994 , the CSCE became the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) and created the Minsk Group with a dual co-chairmanship system . However , in 1997 , the “ tri-chair ” system was created with US-Russia-France leadership , which has lasted to the present . 28
From this starts the endless discussions and search for peace and stability in the region . The first proposal that came by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs was the Package Deal , which came into discussions in May- June , 1997 . It presented itself with a comprehensive approach towards resolving the conflict , where both the security and status-related issues would be discussed at once . 29 The “ step-by-step ” or phased approach followed this in September . According to this proposal , firstly , the
24
Zheleznovodsk Declaration , last modified September 23 , 1991 . https :// peacemaker . un . org / sites / peacemaker . un . org / files / Azerbaijan _ ZheleznovodskDecla ration1991 . pdf .
25
Philip Remler , Chained to the Caucasus : Peacemaking in Karabakh 1987-2012 ( New York : International Peace Institute , 2016 ), 39 . 26 Ali Abasov & Haroutiun Khachatrian , Karabakh Conflict : Variants of Settlement :
Concepts and Reality ( Baku : Friedrich Ebert Stiftung . 3 rd ed ., 2006 ), 90 . 27 Vladimir Kazimirov , Peace to Karabakh : Russia ’ s Mediation in the Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict ( Moscow : Ves Mir Publishers , 2014 ). 28 Remler , Chained to the Caucasus .
29
Comprehensive agreement on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Co- Chairs of the Minsk Group of the OSCE : “ Package Deal ,” OSCE Minsk Group , July 1997 , https :// www . legal-tools . org / doc / 4b2ddb / pdf /
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