A press conference has been held today at the office of the International Eurasia Press Fund.
Umud Mirzayev, President of the International Eurasia Press Fund, a key member of the UN ECOSOC with the main consultative status, Rey Karimoglu, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Mine Victim Association, Hafiz Safikhanov, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Mine Ban Campaign, Shahin Ibrahimov, Chairman of the "Dayag" NGHO, Mahammadhasan Hasanov Chairman of "Assistance in Solving the Socio-Economic Problems of Mine Victims" Public Union have appealed to international organisations to request maps of Azerbaijani territories mined by Armenian military units. The heads of civil society organisations have gathered at the head office of the International Eurasia Press Fund and signed a statement in this regard.
Eurasia Diary reports that at the beginning of the event, the memory of the martyrs of the Great Patriotic War has been commemorated with a minute of silence.
Opening the press conference, Umud Mirzayev, President of the International Eurasia Press Fund, a key member of the UN ECOSOC with the main consultative status, said that we owe the martyrs for every inch of land liberated and bow at their holy spirit.
“The war ended with the signing of the November 10 agreement. Although ending the war has been declared, the war still continues. We know that most of the liberated areas were destroyed by Armenians and turned into ruins. I knew from the beginning how much pain the Armenians would inflict on us. At the same time, our territories are terribly polluted. There are places in the liberated territories where Armenians have planted more than 10 mines per square meter.
The IEPF president said that they decided to make a joint statement with other NGOs.
"During the war, Armenians used all kinds of bombs, cluster rockets and mines. More than 2,500 shells were fired at the Tartar region. At that time, almost every day we were moving under the rain of the shells. The Armenians were mainly targeting the civilian population. You know what happened in Ganja and Barda."
According to him, over the past four months, about 40 civilians have been killed or seriously injured by landmines while visiting the liberated territories, their ancestral lands, cemeteries.
"Armenia refuses to provide the Azerbaijani side with maps of mined areas in gross violation of the principles of civil and humanitarian law. This is in stark contrast to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols."
"International organisations, world community organisations, parliaments of countries raise the problems of the so-called "republic", the issue of Armenian prisoners in our country. However, we still do not know how many civilians and servicemen we had in the First Karabakh War. Armenia has not yet demanded the demarcation of the mined areas. We gather here and call on international organisations to assist in providing these maps to Azerbaijan. Work is underway to restore infrastructure in the region. An airport is being built in Fuzuli, light poles and roads are being constructed. One of the priority for IDPs to return home as soon as possible is to clear the area of mines," he added
Speaking later, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Mine Victim Association, Rey Karimoglu, said that Armenia, as usual, is engaged in sabotage and does not fulfill its obligations.
“A criminal organisation called Armenia is trying to harm Azerbaijan at every opportunity. Those international organisations have not treated this aggressor organisation as a real aggressor for 27 years."
"Hafiz Safikhanov, chairman of the Azerbaijan Mine Ban Campaign, said that about 3,000 people have got on mines in Azerbaijan during the Karabakh conflict."
"525 of them have lost their lives. The number of people killed by mines during the war is still unknown, as the issue is still being investigated. The issuance of mine maps will help protect civilians from accidents. According to the Armenian government, 636 people from their side have been killed in mine. The number of mine victims in Armenia is almost equal to the number of ours. All mined areas are within the internationally recognised territories of Azerbaijan. Anti-personnel mines are cheap weapons. There is a large mine production factory in Armenia. A mine worth $ 340 million has been set in Azerbaijan. Belarus, Ukraine and Russia are still affected by World War II landmines. Therefore, we demand that these maps are provided to us. From now on, Azerbaijan will clear these areas by its own forces or through an international partnership. Otherwise, it is a very long process and requires a lot of money."
Shahin Ibrahimov, chairman of "Dayag" the non-governmental humanitarian organization, said that his organisation's participation in the mine program began with the IEPF and has been going on for more than 20 years. The mine problem is one of the biggest problems not only in Azerbaijan, but all over the world. We are trying to contribute to the healthy development of this society and will continue to do so. Today, international organizations are indifferent to this issue. They need to be alerted so that they would be abale to hear our true voice.
Mammadhasan Hasanov, chairman of the "Assistance in Solving the Socio-Economic Problems of Mine Victims" Public Union, stressed that the days of mine action are coming, and said that the ecological balance has been disturbed in the occupied territories.
"At the 2004 summits in Geneva, Nairobi and Kenya, Armenians said they didn't really have a landmine problem. Because the territory was not theirs. The international organisations were backed by three co-chairs, none of them had signed the mine convention. Armenians used this to pollute our territories with mines. We need to prove to the world that we need to put pressure on international organisations to give us maps of mined areas."
During the event, the heads of NGO responded to the questions from the media representatives.
A joint statement has been signed at the end.