(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Vugar Khalilov
British Ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp has stated that his
country is contemplating allocating more funding to Azerbaijan's
demining effort in the liberated lands, Azernews reports.
'The UK is pleased to assist Azerbaijan in the demining process.
It is great to see that some territories have already been cleared
of mines. We are always looking for new opportunities to provide
more funding in this direction. I hope that we will announce new
funding soon,' Sharp said.
UK has already contributed 500,000 pounds ($608,000) to the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist the
Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA), he added.
The ambassador added that British corporations give technical
advice, non-technical services, and mine action guidelines to
Azerbaijan.
'We continue to encourage both sides to accelerate the peace
process. We also support the EU's efforts to assist Azerbaijan and
Armenia in this process. This is a very long process, but we are
already seeing positive changes that have not been seen in the last
30 years,' Sharp stressed.
In a video address posted on the embassy's Twitter account on
September 2, 2021, Sharp said that landmines and unexploded
ordnances in the liberated areas pose a threat to people's lives
and there have been over 150 victims of mine explosions following
the 2020 war.
He described the former conflict zone as one of the world's most
mine-littered areas based on his own observations.
Therefore, Britain as a leading country in mine clearance, along
with international organizations, takes active measures in the
demining activities on Azerbaijan's liberated territories, he
said.
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.
Earlier, ANAMA chairman Vugar Suleymanov said that his agency
inked a contract with British RPS Energy Ltd. for aerial
surveillance in demining operations in the liberated lands,
Azernews reports.
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.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement
on November 10, 2020, to end 44-day of war and work toward a
comprehensive resolution.
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- Azerbaijan-UK
- James Sharp
- UK ambassador to Azerbaijan
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