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Azerbaijan receives little assistance though suffers from landmines - MFA

01 April 2022 11:40 (UTC +04:00)

"Azerbaijan is one of the countries most affected by mines. The mine problem in Azerbaijan arose due to the fact that neighboring Armenia planted mines in the occupied lands for 30 years without any military reason," said Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said at the international conference on the topic of humanitarian demining activity held in Baku.

"Azerbaijan has allocated large funds for humanitarian demining and called it a national priority. Humanitarian demining is an important part of the construction. Hundreds of thousands of IDPs are looking forward to returning home. These areas need to be cleared so that people can return to their homes safely. This process will also support sustainable development in the region. During your visit to the Agdam region, you witnessed how big a problem we face. ”

Leyla Abdullayeva also touched upon ANAMA's activities in the liberated territories.

"After the liberation of our lands from the occupation, ANAMA was restructured to cope more effectively with the challenges. The Cabinet of Ministers and the Presidential Administration support ANAMA, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the State Border Service also support this process. ANAM has cleared or coordinated the clearing of 19,000 hectares of land, which accounts for only 2% of the mined area in Azerbaijan.

"Since the signing of the trilateral statement, more than 200 people have been killed by landmines alone, including civilians."

The Foreign Ministry official recalled that very little assistance was allocated to Azerbaijan in the field of demining.

"As stated in UN resolutions, the international partnership is very crucial in demining.

State-of-the-art technology and training are essential to this process. While Azerbaijan is a country suffering from landmines, it is the state that receives the least assistance. I think this balance must change. "Azerbaijan is committed to achieving the goal of sustainable development, thus demining is important in this regard."