Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan and Heydar Aliyev met twice on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border - near the village of Sadarak in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

The first meeting was held on October 11, 1999. Kocharyan and Aliyev agreed on the date and location in a telephone conversation. A few months earlier, the leaders had agreed to hold regular “face to face” meetings without intermediaries.

The Sadarak meeting was the fourth in a series of direct talks between the two presidents. Prior to that, Kocharyan and Aliyev had met in Geneva on July 16 and August 23, and in Yalta on September 11.

At the end of the meeting, which lasted more than two hours, Robert Kocharyan said:

Heydar Aliyev noted that they thoroughly analyzed the problem:

“This conflict began twelve years ago. Various proposals and solutions have been put forward, but none have led to an agreement. It is a complex issue and reaching an agreement so easily is not possible. I believe our direct meetings are very useful. Perhaps when we first entered into this dialogue, it was difficult to imagine that we could cooperate so usefully to solve the issue. We have addressed many issues, but to find a solution we need more time, more meetings and negotiations, and of course mutual compromises. So, our meetings will continue.”

The next meeting between Robert Kocharyan and Heydar Aliyev in Sadarak took place three years later, on August 14, 2002. It lasted more than four hours, becoming the longest meeting in the history of their bilateral dialogue.

While the presidents were engaged in discussions, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev spoke to Armenian journalists. He acknowledged that with presidential elections approaching in both Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2003, “it is difficult for the parties to the conflict to make concessions.” He also made it clear that Azerbaijan did not rule out a military solution to the conflict.

At the end of the meeting, Kocharyan and Aliyev stated about their commitment to a peaceful solution to the problem. Kocharyan expressed hope that the meeting “will advance the peace process, which has recently slowed down somewhat.” While Aliyev noted that “the meeting was necessary and useful. It proved that the negotiation potential has not been exhausted.”

A month later, on September 11, 2002, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated that the presidents “managed to make progress on a number of issues” during their meeting in Sadarak.

Encouraging statements were also made by the mediators who arrived in Yerevan on September 26, 2002.

“Undoubtedly, the pre-election situation in Armenia and Azerbaijan has an impact on the pace of the peace process, but the most important thing is that the peace process continues. The recent meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Sadarak is clear confirmation of that,” said Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov.

U.S. mediator Rudolf Perina noted that the Sadarak meeting was “a very positive and important step.”

In October, Armenian presidential spokesman Vahe Gabrielyan said that “the upcoming 2003 presidential elections in Armenia will not affect Robert Kocharyan’s determination to settle the Karabakh problem.”

In March 2003, Robert Kocharyan was re-elected as President of Armenia. On April 21, during a speech in Baku, Heydar Aliyev clutched his chest and collapsed. In July the Azerbaijani president was admitted to a Turkish military hospital. In August he was transferred to Cleveland. On October 2, Heydar Aliyev’s address to the nation was read out on Azerbaijani state television, announcing his decision to withdraw his candidacy in favor of his son. Ilham Aliyev won the presidential election held on October 15.

Heydar Aliyev passed away on December 12, 2003, at the age of 80, in the Cleveland Clinic. The “Sadarak process” came to an end.

Ara Tadevosyan

This chapter features photos by Photolure, Armenpress, and REUTERS.