(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Sabina Mammadli
The grandiose liberation of Azerbaijani territories from Armenian occupation, which ended the 30-year-long bloody conflict, was undoubtedly the pinnacle of President Ilham Aliyev's last quadrennial rule.
By restoring Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, Aliyev increased his national authority and fulfilled a key pre-election promise.
Since then, the country has seen massive restoration and reconstruction efforts.
“Last year was a very significant year in the life of our country. It was the first year after the war. Of course, last year was very important for the post-war period. Our main goal last year was to start the restoration of the liberated territories and assert the new realities at the international level, and the results in both directions are obvious,” the president said at a session he presided over on April 12.
Notably, the Karabakh Revival Foundation was established in 2021 by presidential decree to ensure modern and decent living conditions in the liberated territories, to carry out construction, restoration, and landscaping work in all areas, and to support the continuous improvement of safe living, efficient activities, and prosperity.
As a result, the year 2022 has been declared the 'Year of Shusha', providing new opportunities to demonstrate Azerbaijan's determination to reclaim liberated territories. Given the historical and cultural significance of Azerbaijan's second capital, this is a significant step forward in the promotion of our country.
Demining operations
Without demining the lands, restoration efforts cannot go so far. These efforts are are the state's top priority.
President Aliyev stated at the meeting on the results of the first quarter of 2022 that over 200 people have been killed or seriously injured by mines since the war with Armenia ended in 2020.
Despite the fact that there are many demining organizations in the world, they are in no hurry to assist Azerbaijan. The latter has done a great job of restoring its land on its own, with no external aid in terms of the acquirement of modern equipment. However, the international community's lack of concern about a problem of this magnitude is discouraging.
“There are so many foundations and NGOs in the world that deal with this issue. What are they doing? Let them come and help us. We don't have sufficient physical resources. We have purchased what we needed. We have purchased machinery, equipment and even drones capable of detecting land contaminated with mines. But we do not have enough specialists. We do not have enough manpower. Therefore, let them at least help us in this area,” the president stated.
Further, Aliyev noted that the country will restore everything on its own anyway.
“I said that we will rebuild both Karabakh and Zangazur as exemplary regions. Azerbaijani citizens will live there comfortably and prosperously. It will be an example for the whole world. But my appeal is to international organizations. Those involved in human rights, those championing the principles of justice should pay at least some attention to Azerbaijan and avoid double standards. In short, this shows everything, so to speak,” he stressed.
The state budget for this year allocates approximately $58, 8 million (100 million AZN) to accelerate the demining process.
The significance of demining liberated lands is obvious – they will not be able to be placed in these regions unless the safety of citizens is assured.
Local, foreign demining support
To speed up the process, Azerbaijan has purchased new equipment, including the most modern equipment, drones, and other modern devices.
Local media has informed, that drones with artificial intelligence are also used for demining purposes in Karabakh. They have been delivered to the liberated territories of Talysh and Sugovushan villages. Drones equipped by RPS Energy Ltd. (Great Britain) with artificial intelligence software, are involved in the study and analysis of minefields in Karabakh.
Despite this, there is a high demand for international specialists in this field. According to Ilham Aliyev's speech, three of our structures are currently engaged in demining: ANAMA, the Defence Ministry subunits and the Emergencies Ministry.
“Some time ago, the issue of involving local companies in this was discussed, and, as far as I know, they are also included in this work, because this initiative will give impetus to the development of entrepreneurship, - unfortunately, the demining process in our country will be long-term - at the same time local companies will gain experience here and be able to offer their services,” he stated.
Talking about foreign companies, Aliyev noted that their offer to date was not very acceptable in terms of price. The prices charged by domestic and foreign businesses vary significantly. As a result, he emphasized that the more local businesses that are established, as well as three state structures, the better. Furthermore, state-of-the-art machines and mechanisms must be acquired.
Similarly, talking about mine clearance, military expert Adalat Verdiyev stressed that international donors should be more active so that these issues could be resolved as soon as possible.
'Those who used to ignore the fact that Armenia turned previously occupied Azerbaijani territories into minefields should now allocate the necessary funds, personnel, equipment, and equipment for de-mining,' the expert said.
To recap, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan all mine maps of liberated territories as a result of talks held through the Russian Defence Ministry's mediation on December 4, 2021.
On March 2, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov stated that the low accuracy of Armenia's minefield maps of Azerbaijani liberated territories slows the demining process.
'The demining operations are underway, but people are still losing their lives. From the end of the 44-day Second Karabakh War to the present, over 200 people have become victims of mine explosions in liberated lands,' Bayramov said.
He added that the high mine contamination of the liberated territories hinders the return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands.
It should be noted that ANAMA, along with the partner countries, carries out demining activities on its liberated territories. Moreover, the State Border Service and the Defence Ministry also demine the liberated lands.
Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security, and cooperation.
Previously, on June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.
On July 3, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan maps of about 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines planted during the occupation of Fuzuli and Zangilan regions.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
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