For over a year, the Environmental Protection First coalition has been actively monitoring the damage caused by Armenia's mining industry to the environment of the Caucasus, according to Amin Mammadov, co-founder of the coalition.
According to Report, during a briefing on the pollution of environment in both Azerbaijan and the entire South Caucasus by Armenia's illegal mining activities, Mammadov stated that the member organizations of the coalition have been working actively in this direction.
"In the summer of 2023, when the coalition was established, we first objected to Armenia's plans to build a metallurgical plant in the historical Arazdayan area bordering Nakhchivan. As a result of our efforts and the solidarity shown by NGOs operating in Azerbaijan, the construction of the plant, which was financed by foreign investors, was halted," he explained.
Mammadov also pointed out that since its establishment, the coalition has prepared a report based on satellite images of more than 20 industrial enterprises extracting various non-ferrous and ferrous metals in Armenia, located close to the border regions with Azerbaijan. The report has been made public to the diplomatic representatives accredited in Azerbaijan and the media.
The official added that in early 2024, the coalition expressed support for Armenian NGOs protesting against the Armenian government's plans for gold mining in the Amuldagh deposit.
"Following this, in May 2024, the coalition presented to the public a map of Armenia's mining industry prepared by the Azerbaijan Cartographers Public Union, a member of the coalition, in Armenian, English, and Azerbaijani languages," he noted.
Despite all these activities and objections, the Armenian government still allows foreign investors to invest in these activities in Armenia without requiring them to submit environmental impact assessment reports to either the Armenian public or neighboring countries, he underlined.
“In doing so, Armenia continues to seriously violate the requirements of the Aarhus Convention, which it has joined and which requires ensuring public access to information, as well as the Espoo Convention, which requires transboundary environmental impact assessment.”
The co-founder stressed that independent experts from Azerbaijan have repeatedly demanded monitoring of the enterprises operating in those areas in Armenia and the involvement of Azerbaijani specialists in this monitoring. However, no clarification or position has ever been expressed by the Armenian side regarding the fulfillment of this demand.
"As members of the coalition, we once again strongly express our objection to this issue and demand that Armenia take serious steps in this area by drawing the attention of the international community to this issue," Mammadov highlighted.