ELYA AGHAJANYAN
Since the Kazan summit in 2011 , the negotiation process was about the Madrid principles until the 2016 April War , which was the most large-scale escalation since the 1994 ceasefire agreement . In the aftermath of the April War , the parties mostly discussed confidence-building measures that should have halted large-scale escalations . A few weeks later , after the April War , the Minsk Group Co-Chairs , Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev met in Vienna , where they agreed on “ confidencebuilding measures .” 39 They agreed to finalize an OSCE investigative mechanism . 40 In the wake of this statement , there were some meetings as well . However , they were not noteworthy .
2018 was marked by several transformative events in Armenia . The resignation of Serzh Sargsyan allowed Nikol Pashinyan to rise to power , who became the newly appointed prime minister of Armenia . At first , it seemed there would be a breakthrough in the peace process . However , there were no significant steps made toward completing the peace process . Since his first days in power , Nikol Pashinyan announced that he would not negotiate on behalf of NK . Over the last two years , various meetings have taken place between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan and between their Foreign Ministers through the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group .
The multiple attempts at conflict resolution all failed . Almost three decades of negotiations through international mediation efforts demonstrate that the parties ' contradictory positions over the most critical issues distance them from a resolution to the conflict . There are some common explanations for the unsuccessful attempts at conflict resolution , including that one or both parties do not want to reach an agreement for various reasons , or the time is not ripe for a resolution . In the following sections , this study aims to understand Azerbaijan ' s position and policies in this regard .
Azerbaijan ’ s Stance towards the Peace Process in 1991-1993
After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the newly independent states in the Caucasus experienced hard times coping with socioeconomic changes in their countries . Azerbaijan was not an exception . 1991-1993 was a tumultuous period for Azerbaijan . During these two
39 “ Joint Statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation , Secretary
of State of the United States of America and State Secretary for Europe Affairs of France , Vienna ”, OSCE Minsk Group , last modified May 16 , 2016 , https :// www . osce . org / mg / 240316 . 40 Ibid .
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