The geography of the Karabakh peace process
Published: Sunday July 19, 2009
Negotiations on Karabakh could be illustrated as a simple pendulum moving back and forth from the point of rest at 3, equivalent to the status quo. In that case 1 could represent a return to status quo ante before the conflict (Karabakh inside Azerbaijan); 2, a transitional point in such a return, such as the 1997 "stage-by-stage" proposal or the Madrid principles; 5, formalization of Karabakh's separation from Azerbaijan; and 4, a transitional point to such an eventuality that a new referendum on status or unilateral recognition of Karabakh's independence could provide. Emil Sanamyan
Washington - Even for those following the Karabakh negotiations closely, the convoluted jargon developed in the peace process can sound like a geography quiz.
In the last several years alone, the Minsk Group troika went through the Prague process and Rambouillet round to develop the Madrid principles only to see Russia seal a Meiendorf declaration.
The geographic associations help provide some organization to the long process and also add color to otherwise repetitive protocol events.
Below is the geography of the main stages of the Karabakh peace process:
1991 - Zheleznovodsk (Russia) declaration
1992 - Minsk Group launched
1992 - Tehran declaration
1992 - Villa Madama (Italy) talks commence
1994 - Bishkek protocol signed
1994 - Budapest summit declaration
1996 - Lisbon summit statement
1997 - Denver statement
2001 - Key West summit
2004 - Prague process begins
2006 - Rambouillet round held
2007 - Madrid principles submitted
2008 - Meiendorf (Moscow) declaration
2009 - L'Aquila (Italy) statement
Editor's note: For a discussion of the various stages of the negotiations, with a helpful table, see Tatul Hakobyan's "Mediators play down prospects of early Karabakh settlement

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