KARABAKH – ON MAY 12, 1994 THE PROTOCOL ON CEASEFIRE WAS PUT INTO ACTION
"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department

PanARMENIAN.Net
13.05.2007 GMT+04:00

The essence of "the Russian plan" of the conflict regulation was as
follows; "The conflict may not be liquidated without the Karabakh
authorities being recognized by the conflicting party"

On May 12, 1994 the Bishkek Protocol on ceasefire on the conflict zone
was put into action. By that time the Armenian Army had liberated
Shushi, the Lacin Corridor and established a safe haven of seven
regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian Army’s advance
became a serious threat for Azerbaijan and soon Shaumyan and Getashen
were liberated. This is the reason why the President of Azerbaijan
Heydar Aliyev, to avoid more losses, made an appeal to the RF President
Boris Eltsin with the request to cease the war.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On May 4-5, 1994 in Bishkek on the initiative of
the CIS inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliament of the Kyrgyz
Republic, RF Federal Assembly, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs a
session was held, during which it was stated that the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict "doesn’t only cripple the Azeri and Armenian Nations but
also touches upon the interests of the other countries of the region,
as well as tenses the international climate."

The participants of the session called all the confronting parties
"to listen to the voice within and cease the fire, resting upon
the Protocol of February 18, 1994, as well as to secure this in the
shortest time by signing a trustworthy and legally binding agreement,
anticipating a mechanism of securing the resumption of the ceasefire,
the withdrawal of the troops from the occupied territories and renewal
of the communication, as well as returning the refugees."

It was then, when "the Russian Plan" of regulation was promulgated,
the essence of which according to the chairman of the Supreme
Soviet of the Russian Federation Vladimir Shumeiko was as follows;
"The conflict may not be liquidated without the Karabakh authorities
being recognized by the conflicting party" which naturally didn’t
like the Azeri delegation, whose head Afiyeddin Jalilov at first
didn’t sign below the Bishkek Protocol of May 5. But on May 9 in the
session of the Supreme Council of Armenia its former Chairman Babken
Ararktsyan informed, that he had had a telephone conversation with the
former Chairman of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Rasul Guliyev who had
informed him that Azerbaijan had signed below the Bishkek Protocol too.

The Bishkek Protocol defined the date of the ceasefire – May
9. There was a relative lull on the fronts, though the armistice
was put into effect not on May 9, but May 12. It was validated by a
letter from the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the
Nagorno-Karabakh army commander addressed on May 11 by the Russian
Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs and the representative of
the President of Russia. On May 17 a specified "Arrangement" about
the order of realization of the Protocol of February 18 was signed.

Below it carried the same signatures as the Protocol.

But the USA made it clear that it was against Russia’s intermediary
efforts. George Mareska; the former CSCE Co-chairman supported
America’s conception of Nagorno-Karabakh self-determination, the
realization of which would leave it within the bounds of Azerbaijan
"on the basis of free union." According to the RF first Ambassador
to Armenia Vladimir Stupishin peaceful way of conflict regulation
without interference of outer powers is not possible in the nearest
future. "Plans" suggested by the CSCE, which always stand in favor
for Azerbaijan and are always unacceptable by Karabakh have become
one of the factors creating troubles in the regulation process,"
Stupishin writes.