Although hostilities in the Karabakh region have ended, Azerbaijan faces a difficult and costly war in the fight against landmines and other explosive remnants of the 30-year conflict, reads an article published in the Spanish newspaper La Razón, Report informs.
The author of the article notes that thanks to progress in normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, including the exchange of military personnel, the publication of a joint declaration and meetings in Berlin and Munich in 2024, the peace treaty is becoming closer to reality every day.
The consequences of conflict in countries such as Azerbaijan are said to include mine contamination, which poses a risk to civilians and also impedes economic recovery and development as land remains unsuitable for agricultural use until cleared. And this process can take decades.
“At a cultural level, mines impede the expression of religious rights and the transmission of culture between generations. For example, the mining of religious monuments and cemeteries, such as the mining of the Aghdaban cemetery in Azerbaijan, is a relatively common and deplorable tactic that creates serious obstacles to the religious expression of the population. In addition, internally displaced persons returning to their homelands face a climate of fear and insecurity that makes it impossible for the safe development of their culture,” the article says.
The author emphasizes that in the context of peace and reconstruction efforts, it is necessary to speed up the demining process: “This becomes an absolute priority not only to guarantee the physical safety of people, but also to promote economic recovery and social cohesion in the liberated territories of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur.”