ABSTRACT
The recognition of the referendum on self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh, held on 10 December 1991, may serve as the legal and political ground for that reset. The changes in the Nabucco pipeline project, originally conceived to carry Iranian gas into Europe and later redefined to transport Central Asian gas, indicate that the project cannot be considered as a purely economic one. The idea of integrating a second referendum in talks to resolve the NK conflict has been one of the main obstacles to further progress in the diplomatic negotiations. It ignores lawful referendum already held in December 1991 and has led the peace settlement process into a deadlock. As one of the cornerstones of the Madrid principles, this stillborn approach seeks a peaceful resolution of the conflict within a counterproductive framework of a "threat to resume war". This may explain why the Azerbaijani side shows its "eagerness not to resume war" as a main "basis for compromise".
