20 years have passed since the Bishkek Protocol on a cease-fire came into force on May 12, 1994. Armenia signed the protocol on May 8. Russia and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly mediated in the process.
Professor Fikret Sadykhov of the Western University reminded that the need for a truce had been especially evident in the past 20 years. He said that the truce had become a reality with the help of Heydar Aliyev. Sadykhov added that progress in the OSCE Minsk Group, a constructive position of Armenia and realization of UNSC resolutions had not lived up to expectations. The expert pointed out that declarations on recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and the need for peaceful negotiations had made no progress.
Sergey Minasyan, deputy director of the Kavkaz Institute, said that all the events in the past 20 years had encouraged the truce, in a situation when all sides of the conflict had different approaches. He noted that the actualized Madrid Principles mentioned by U.S. Co-Chair James Warlick demonstrated a commitment to old approaches to the problem.
Asim Mollazadeh, a member of the Azerbaijani parliament, called the negotiation process of the past 20 years an imitation at the OSCE Minsk Group. He explained that members of the Group had mandates of the UNSC, but they had not included withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories in the agenda. The MP added that the EU and the U.S. had been imposing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, yet no such actions had been taken against the aggressor in Nagorno-Karabakh. The lawmaker emphasized that Azerbaijan wanted a peaceful solution based on international law.
Alexander Markarov, the director of the Armenian branch of the Institute for CIS Countries, said that there had been ups and downs during the 20 years of the cease-fire. In his words, there had been many violations of the cease-fire and the mediators had not accomplished their objective. The analyst considers the latest declarations of the co-chairs positive but unrealizable due to the lack of mechanism and procedures. He called America’s differentiation of talks on Nagorno-Karabakh and its occupied districts unacceptable for the Karabakh side.
