Inter-Tajik negotiations as model of internal conflict resolution

The article analyses Inter-Tajik negotiations as a model of relatively successful internal conflict resolution. Civil War in Tajikistan was the bloodiest after the collapse of the USSR. Active hostilities continued for less than a year from April to December 1992, and then the war became positional and protracted. After the years of violations the war termination became the burning issue. The participants of Inter-Tajik Dialog launched in March 1993 within the Dartmouth Conferences began to clear the way for the future negotiations. In one year in April 1994 the official negotiations started. There are three first stages of conflict resolution: to cease the violation, to carry on a dialogue, to begin the negotiation process. In case of Inter-Tajik negotiations all these three stages took place simultaneously, not sequentially. The negotiations continued for more than three years. The parties discussed a whole number of important issues from the plight of the refugees to the political reforms. At first it was very hard to continue negotiations because the parties did not trust each other. Even some insignificant agreement required great efforts, but very often it was not realized due to disagreements inside the belligerents. Many times the negotiations were on the verge of breakdown and continued due to foreign pressure. The situation in neighbouring Afghanistan influenced the negotiation process very much. After the seizure of power by Taliban in September 1996 the Russian Federation pressed upon both parties to hasten the peace process. At the end of more than three years of talks and personal meetings of two leaders the General agreement was signed. It permitted to establish peace in Tajikistan, still it was not full reconciliation. As a result of agreements the opposition was involved in distribution of political resources, but to some extent. Today the situation in the Republic is uneasy; the government controls not all the territory of the country, armed clashes between government and certain alignments of opposition continue in some regions. In fact, peace process is incomplete, but the naked violence actions are minimized. Since the 15 years when General Agreement was signed there were not grave violations endangering the peace. The implementation of General Agreement permits to accomplish the main goals: to bring the conflict to an end and to maintain the territorial integrity of Tajikistan.

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