MP: "Biggest obstacle to return and reconstruction is mines planted by Armenia"

"After the 44-day war and the liberation of our lands, the main task lying ahead is to clear the area of mines. Because Armenia intensively mined the territories during the occupation. Along with destroying and looting settlements, historical, religious and cultural monuments in the territories of Azerbaijan for almost 30 years, the aggressor state also created great problems for further settlement and restoration," MP Jeyhun Mammadov told Report.

According to him, humanitarian demining activities are currently being carried out in the liberated territories: "This factor is important for human life and the implementation of reconstruction work in a short time. Because Armenia refused to provide mine maps to Azerbaijan for a long time after the tripartite agreement of November 10, 2020. Even they claimed for some time that they did not have such maps. This, of course, led to the loss of life and health of dozens of citizens, service members, and people involved in the demining process. As a result of the constant pressure from the Azerbaijani state, Armenia provided mine maps, the accuracy of which was only 25%."

He stressed the importance of international support for demining activities in Azerbaijan as part of reconstruction and rehabilitation: "Azerbaijan is open to proposals in the field of mine clearance because there is a link between humanitarian demining and the long-term peace and socio-economic development. Therefore, the international event held in Baku on the eve of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is important. During the post-conflict period, it is important to draw the world's attention to the problem of landmines in the liberated territories. Because today the biggest obstacle to the return and reconstruction is the mines planted by Armenia. It is noteworthy that the participation of about 30,000 representatives in the field of humanitarian demining opened a unique discussion and cooperation platform for world-renowned organizations and international experts. At the same time, the importance of demining in achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations, is already emerging as a global factor."