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on July 7, 1923, included Agdere, Askeran, Shusha, Khodjavend and Hadrut. 
As a result of the terrorist and aggressive activity of the Armenian separatists, 
the self-administrative status of the region was abolished on November 26, 
1991. Currently Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as 7 districts outside of it are under 
the Armenian occupation. The Armenian party denied the fact of occupation, 
claiming a separatist Armenian regime is controlling the region. The Azerbai-
jani party proposes a high self-administrative status for Nagorno-Karabakh 
within its sovereignty with conditions of liberation of the occupied territories 
and restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaij an. 
Caucasus – an area located between the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, 
bounded by the eastern frontiers of Turkey and the northern frontiers of Iran. 
It covers a territory of 440 thousand square kilometers.  
Transcaucasia – the southern part of the Caucasian mountains. The region 
includes Azerbaij an, Georgia and Armenia. 
Commonwealth of Independent States - a union that includes the former 
Soviet republics such as Russian, Azerbaij an, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, 
Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia and Mol-
dova (est. in 1991). 
Minsk Group of OSCE – a mission of OSCE mediating for peaceful solu-
tion of the Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict between Armenia and Azerbaij an. The 
Helsinki Additional Meeting of the Foreign Ministers on 24 March 1992, re-
quested the Chairman-in-Offi
  ce to convene a conference for the sett lement of 
the confl ict. Azerbaij an, Armenia, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, 
Italy, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and the USA were to be participating states. The 
Minsk conference failed to be held because of the aggression of Armenia, and 
the body formed by those countries for the mediation was named the Minsk 
Group. On 5-6 December 1994, the Budapest Summit decided to establish a 
co-chairmanship for the process. The fi rst co-chairmans included Russia and 
Sweden, later Russia and Finland. Since 1997 the USA, Russia and France have 
been chairing the Minsk Group. Two sett lement proposals submitt ed by the 
Minsk Group have been rejected by Armenia, one – by Azerbaij an. The medi-
ating eff orts of the Minsk Group continue within the frames of meetings and 
negotiations between the co-chairs and the parties, as well as organization of 
meetings of the presidents of Azerbaij an and Armenia. 
Warsaw Treaty Organization – a military-political alliance established in 
1955 against the NATO, with signing of the Warsaw Treaty by Albania, Bul-
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garia, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Romania, the USSR 
and Czechoslovakia.
Budapest Summit of CSCE – the fourth summit of the Conference on Se-
curity and Cooperation in Europe held in Budapest on December 6-7, 1994 
featuring the heads of states and governments of 50 countries of Europe as 
well as the USA and Canada. In Budapest signifi cant steps were made for the 
transformation of CSCE into an organization and it was renamed OSCE with 
the formation of corresponding bodies. Decisions on the Nagorno-Karabakh 
confl ict are refl ected in the chapter “Regional issues” of the Document “To-
wards a Genuine Partnership in a New Era” of the summit. The decisions im-
plied appointment of co-chairs of the Minsk Group, formation of peacekeeping 
forces of OSCE to ensure peace if peace agreement is reached.  
Lisbon Summit of CSCE – the fi ft h summit of OSCE held in Lisbon on De-
cember 2-3, 1996. The declaration sponsored by 53 member-states and refl ect-
ing the principles of solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh confl ict was adopted 
on behalf of the chairman of OSCE. The principles included territorial integrity 
of Azerbaij an and Armenia, granting Nagorno-Karabakh the highest status of 
self-administration and ensuring the security of the population of Nagorno-
Karabakh. Armenia opposed those principles; consequently it refused the pro-
posals of the Minsk Group elaborated on the basis of those principles.   
Madrid Summit – a summit of the heads of states and governments of the 
NATO member-countries held in Madrid on July 8-9, 1997. 
Istanbul Summit – a NATO summit held in Istanbul on June 29, 2004. 
White House – the residence of the US President in Washington D.C. 
GUAM – a regional organization of four states: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbai-
jan, and Moldova, established as a consultative forum in 1997. During the Yalta 
summit on June 6-7, 2001 the charter of the organization was adopted. Uzbeki-
stan withdrew from the organization in 2005. During the Kiev summit in May 
2006, the organization was renamed GUAM Organization for Democracy and 
Economic Development. Recently the discussions were led on the main prob-
lems of the member-states such as aggressive separatism and terrorism. 
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan – a pipeline for transportation of the Azerbaij ani oil to 
the European markets. It is 1768 km long, passes through Azerbaij an (443 km), 
Georgia (249 km) and Turkey (1076 km). The cost of the project is nearly USD 
4 billion.
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Armenia – a neighboring state that occupied 20 percent of the territory of 
Azerbaij an in 1991-1994.
Brussels – capital of Belgium, where the NATO headquarters is located.  
Denver Declaration – a declaration signed in Denver on June 23, 1997, by the 
presidents of the co-chairing countries of the Minsk Group Bill Clinton, Boris 
Yeltsin and Jacques Chirac on peaceful sett lement of the Armenian-Azerbaij ani 
confl ict.
Luxembourg – a state in Europe. Its offi
  cial name is the Grand Duchy of 
Luxembourg. 
Kosovo – a region and a partially-recognized state in the Eastern Europe. A 
number of countries, including Azerbaij an have not recognized the indepen-
dence of Kosovo. The Albanian majority of the region claim for independence. 
The Serbian government considers the region as an autonomous province of 
Kosovo and Metohij a within its sovereignty. 53 out of 192 countries have rec-
ognized the independence of Kosovo up to now. 
Personalities:
Boris Yeltsin –fi rst president of the Russian Federation (1991-1999)
Jacques Chirac – prominent French politician and statesman. He was Prime 
Minister of France in 1974-1976 and 1977-1986, mayor of Paris in 1988-1995, 
President of France in 1995-2007.
Bill Clinton – 41st President of the Unites States (1993-2001).
Manfred Wörner – Secretary-General of NATO from Germany in 1988-1994.
Javier Solana – Secretary-General of NATO from Spain in 1995-1999.
George Robertson – Secretary-General of NATO from the United Kingdom 
in 1999-2003.
Jaap de Hoop Scheff er – Secretary-General of NATO from the Netherlands 
since 2003
Levon Ter-Petrossian – President of Armenia in 1991-1998.
Robert Kocharyan – President of Armenia in 1998-2008.
Vladimir Putin – President of the Russian Federation in 2000-2008, current 
Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. 
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