Nagorno-Karabakh: Chronology

Chronology

Cease-fire and Attempts at Political Mediation by OSCE, 1995-2011

1995
February 6 At the initiative of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia, reach an agreement on principles for a possible solution with the goal of strengthening the ceasefire agreement.
May 25 OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs visits Nagorno-Karabakh.
June 15 to 21 Negotiations between the warring parties will are held in Helsinki under the auspices of the Minsk Group co-chairs.
September 4 to 12 Negotiations between the warring parties under the leadership of the OSCE Minsk Group continues.

1996
January 26 to February 3 NKR's President Robert Kotcharian and Foreign Minister visit the United States. On February 3, Kotcharian holds a press conference at the UN.
March 19 NKR's parliament is renamed the NKR's National Assembly.
March 24 A charity collection is held from Yerevan to Stepanakert via Los Angeles. The collected sum will fund the construction of road connecting Stepanakert to Goris (Armenia).
May 12 NKR's President, Robert Kotcharian, asks the world to recognize the independence of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.
June 14 to 18 Negotiations between the warring parties are held in Moscow under the leadership of the OSCE Minsk Group.
September 13 to 15 U.S. and German representatives of the Minsk Group visit Stepanakert.
October 2 OSCE's Highest Planning Group visits Stepanakert.
October 4 OSCE Minsk Group travels to Nagorno-Karabakh.
October 18 to 30 Negotiations between the warring parties are held in Helsinki and Moscow.
December 2 to 3 OSCE meeting begins in Lisbon. Azerbaijan tries to use its veto against the meeting's final document, since they fear that it will not include the Azeri government's proposal for resolving the conflict. Later, Armenia vetoes Azerbaijan article on principles for a settlement. As a compromise, the OSCE Chairman delivers an oral statement on the resolution of the conflict based on the principles proposed by Azerbaijan. However, since the statement is not included in the meeting's final document, it has no binding force. The principles of this meeting are known as the 'Lisbon Principles." As a result of the Lisbon Summit, negotiations between the warring parties are halted. The three co-chirmanship of the Minsk Group by Russia, USA and France is introduced.

1997
March 17 to 18 The first joint meeting of the Minsk Group's three co-chairs begins in Paris.
April 1 to 4 Negotiations between the warring parties takes place in Moscow and will be the last of its kind since the Lisbon Summit.
May 31 NKR's leadership and a delegation from the Minsk Group meets in Stepanakert. OSCE mission proposes a new "package deal" for resolving the conflict which which is later accepted by Armenia and Azerbaijan, but rejected by Nagorno-Karabakh.
September 22 OSCE mission proposes a new "step-by-step plan" as a solution to the conflict. The plan is accepted by Armenia and Azerbaijan, but rejected by Nagorno-Karabakh.
October 17 NKR's representative office opens in Washington DC.
November 7 to 8 Minsk Group co-chairs visit the region, including Nagorno-Karabakh.
December 1 Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan presents, for the first time, a detailed view on the conflict and how he believes that the issue should be solved. The published article "War and Peace: Time for reflection" will soon lead to his resignation as president.

1998
February 3 Armenian president, Levon Ter-Petrosian resigns after protests from the Armenian population accusing Ter-Petrosian for having accepted the terms of the conflict's resolution without regarding the interests of Nagorno-Karabakh.
March 30 New presidential elections are held in Armenia, the Armenian Prime Minister, Robert Kotcharian (former president of Nagorno-Karabakh) is elected Armenian president.
November 11 OSCE Minsk Group proposes a new plan for a comprehensive solution based on the concept of "commonwealth". The proposal is accepted by Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh as a basis for further negotiations but is rejected by Azerbaijan.

1999
March 11 The European Parliament adopts a resolution on Nagorno-Karabakh, which among others, mentions that the NKR's declaration of independence was in accordance to the then-existing USSR Constitution and Laws.
November 12 The main road between Goris (Armenia) and NKR's capital Stepanakert is inaugurated.

2000
February 7 Meetings are held with NKR's leadership and the Minsk Group representatives.
June 12 to 14 NKR Foreign Minister Naira Melkoumian is invited to Vienna where she attends a meeting with members of the OSCE Permanent Council.

2001
May 19 For the first time since the conflict's start the Minsk Group's three co-chairs visit NKR and personally go to the front line.
November 5 OSCE delegations of the Minsk Group co-chairs hold a working meeting in NKR.

2002
March 5 NKR's President and Foreign Minister travel to Yerevan for a meeting with OSCE chairman, Foreign Minister of Portugal and other members of the OSCE mission.
March 10 NKR's President receives the Minsk Group co-chairs and Russia's deputy Foreign Minister who are on a short working visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.
August 6 NKR's authorities sign an agreement with the International Red Cross (ICRC), granting the organization access to all places where prisoners are kept.
August 11 General elections are held in NKR, electing Arkady Ghoukasian as president.
October 24 46 U.S. congressmen sent a letter to NKR's President Ghoukasian and congratulate his victory in the election. The letter stresses that the election emphasizes NKR's de facto independence. "Observers from Italy, Russia, France, United Kingdom and the United States unanimously reported that the election process operated according to democratic norms. None found any voting irregularities, fraud, or voter harassment. This kind of careful organization and serious commitment to democratic values is most encouraging and stands as a fine example to other former Soviet republics," wrote the lawmakers.
2 november A delegation from the British Parliament, consisting of the House of Lords Deputy Speaker, Baroness Caroline Cox, Lord Shannon and members of the House of Commons visits NKR and hold meetings with the leadership.

2003
July 8 After a series of negotiations Armenian and Azerbaijani Defence Ministers meet on July 8 at the border and agree to ease the military tension between the two countries.
October 31 Ilham Aliyev, son of the former president Heydar Aliyev, succeeds his father as president of Azerbaijan.

2004
January Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declares in Paris that Azerbaijan will never accept Karabakh's independence or its unification with Armenia. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejects Azerbaijani offer to lift the blockade against the country in exchange for the Armenian forces evacuating the Armenian-controlled areas around Karabakh.
February 19 The Azeri lieutenant Ramil Safarov murders the Armenian Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan with an ax while he sleeps. The officers are in the Hungarian capital Budapest participating in an English course, a part of NATO's friendship program for peace. On April 16, 2006 the court sentences Safarov to life imprisonment without the possibility for petition for clemency until 2036.
February The European Parliament refuses to endorse the proposal from its Chief Reporter for the South Caucasus, the Swede Per Gahrton, proposing the return of Armenian-controlled territories around Nagorno-Karabakh in exchange for the lifting of Azerbaijan's economic blockade of Armenia.
April 16 The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers meet in Prague. It will be the first in a series of meetings which are known as the Prague Process.
July Minsk Group mediators announce that they will not make new proposals, but refer to Armenia and Azerbaijan to be responsible for coming up with agreements and solutions.
September 15 The situation begins to deteriorate at the front line, when both sides accuse each other of violations of the ceasefire agreement. Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian presidents meet in Astana, Kazakhstan. NATO cancels a planned military exercise in Azerbaijan, since Armenia's armed forces are refused an entry visa.

2005
January 25 The European Parliamentary Assembly adopts a resolution criticizing the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijan's territory and contains reference to ethnic cleansing, which, however, is directed to both sides' forced expulsion of their respective minorities.
February OSCE officials pay their first visit to the Armenian-controlled territories.
April Violations of the ceasefire along the line of contact escalates.
May Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents meet during a European Council's meeting in Warsaw and, according to information, agree that the foreign ministers will continue to meet.
June Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers meet in Paris. The Armenian Foreign Minister Oskanian announces that "common ground is in sight."
July 12 Anonymous Armenian sources announce that an agreement on a possible use of a referendum to determine Karabakh's future status is at hand. It is denied hastily by Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister.
August 27 Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents meet in Kazan, Russia, but no details are revealed. Speculation spread quickly that the foreign ministers are discussing new solutions aimed at combined "package" and "step-by-step" approach to the withdrawal of Armenian forces from territories outside the NKR and the future use of a referendum for Karabakh future status.

2006
January 18 to 19 A meeting between the counterparties' foreign ministers in London results in a short preliminary document that outlines the principles for future actions. The meeting is a preparation for a near future summit between the countries' presidents.
June OSCE Chairman reveals the basic principles for a future solution. These include a gradual withdrawal of Armenian forces from five districts adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh and their replacement with peacekeepers and two separate agreements for the regions Kelbadjar and Latchin linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Karabakh's future status should be determined by a referendum.

2007
November OSCE presents the basic principles of an agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh during a summit in the Spanish capital, Madrid. These will be known as the Madrid Principles and is an adaptation of the basic principles that have been revealed in June 2006. In addition to the gradual withdrawal of Armenian forces from five regions around Karabakh

these five regions are demilitarized;
an international peacekeeping force will be deployed in these five regions and along the borders of Karabakh;
the region will be cleared of mines, rebuilt, and the Azeri regions' inhabitants who had fled during 1992-93 should be allowed to return home;
at an unspecified future, a referendum is to determine Nagorno-Karabakh status.

2008
February 19 Serzh Sargsyan is elected Armenian president.
March 14 UN General Assembly passes (39 against 7, 100 abstentions) Resolution 62/243 on Karabakh. The Minsk Group co-chair countries vote against the resolution, which they call as one-sided and counterproductive for their mediation efforts.
2 november Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are invited by Russian President Medvedev to visit Moscow for talks on a possible solution to the conflict. A statement is published in which both parties express their commitment to continue the negotiations within the framwork of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the basis of Madrid Principles.

2009
January 5 Azerbaijan's president is threatening to take Nagorno-Karabakh by force, saying that the country is ready to begin full-scale war with Armenia at "any moment".
May 14 Karabakh Foreign Minister said that the NKR's participation in the negotiations is the only option.
May 15 Azerbaijan denies that it has achieved success in the negotiations, accusing the OSCE Minsk Group to be partial to Armenia's favor.
June 6 After having admitted that Karabakh will probably never be returned to Azerbaijan, Aliyev tells to Russian television that they have agreed that Armenian troops should evacuate the districts around Karabakh.
July 7 Azerbaijani President Aliyev, told the Russian television channel Vesti TV that "As regards the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, a mechanism for a provisional status could be agreed in the first stage [of the peace process], while the issue of the final status will be solved only when the parties agree on that,” he said. “This could happen in one year, in ten years, in 100 years, or this could never happen. Time will tell."
July 11 America's Foreign Ministry makes a clarification of the Minsk Group basic principles, among others mentioning:

Return of the areas around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azeri control;
An interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh that will guarantee its security and autonomy [but within Azerbaijan's territory];
A corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia (Kelbadjar and Latchin);
The final status of Nagorno-Karabakh will be determined in future by a legally binding expression of will [i.e. local residents' right to self-determination];
The internal refugees and displaced persons to return;
International secutiry guarantees, including a peacekeeping force.

August 7 U.S. representative in the Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, repeats the OSCE Minsk Group's position in the support of a referendum in Karabakh to determine the region's fate. Bryza clearly underlines that such a vote should not be held in entire Azerbaijan, but only in Karabakh.
November 22 Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents hold a summit in Munich. The day before the meeting Aliyev delivers a war ultimatum in case the meeting is not successful.

2010
March 24 Armenian President Sargsyan, is reported to have said that if Karabakh's people get the right to determine their own destiny, then "Armenia could as a compromise, consider returning the regions around Karabakh with an exception for a corridor that connects it with Armenia." This is later denied by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.
June 17 Sargsyan, Aliyev and Russian President Medvedev meet in St. Petersburg. Armenia announces that an updated version of the Madrid Principles has been presented. Based on Azerbaijan's reaction, it is speculated that the new version is considered to be beneficial for Armenia.
June 18 Azeri forces launch an attack at the line of contact. Four Armenian and two Azerbaijani soldiers are killed. That the attack was initiated by the Azeri side is confirmed by the United States.
June 24 Iran's Ambassador to Armenia announces that his government opposes the proposal that the U.S. should send peacekeeping troops to Karabakh.
July 4 Media reports that Russian President Medvedev introduced a new alternative to the "Madrid Principles" during the meeting in Moscow, which was met with positive reactions from Sargsyan. However, Aliyev had refused to accept the proposal, whereupon he left Russia earlier than planned. On July 7, Aliyev warned that "This is the last chance for Armenia to leave the occupied lands voluntarily for the sake of its own future and its own security."

2011
May 26 The Presidents of the Minsk Group co-chair states, Barack Obama (USA), Nicolas Sarkozy (France) and Dmitry Medvedev (Russia) announce a statement during the G8 summit in Deauville, France. It reiterates their continued support for the peaceful settlement of the conflict and calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to try to find common ground during their upcoming meeting in Kazan, Russia.
June 24 Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents meet at the conference in Kazan, Russia. The expections for the meeting that has been prepared by the Russian President Medvedev is high and there a is slight optimism that Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign a document containing the basic principles of a peace plan. However, the meeting ends in disappointment since no document is signed, but the countries' presidents express their commitment to continue to meet to find a peaceful solution.
October 21 to 24 OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs visit the region and hold separate meetings with the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh as well as visiting the front line. They announced that they will return to the region in late November to try to develop various measures to find a way forward in the negotiations.
November 28 to 29 OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs visit Armenia and Karabakh, and cross over the contact line on foot over to Azerbaijan.
December 5 to 7 Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers Nalbandian and Mammadyarov, meet at the OSCE summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. In a joint press release they repeat their countries' commitment to a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
December 6 OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs publish a joint press release, calling on the warring factions to agree on a final framework based on the existing agreement from Madrid (2007), L'Aquila (2009) and Muskoka (2010).