Ombudswoman Appeals To International Organisations In Connection With Environmental Crimes In Armenia

The appeal reads:

“Armenia, which for 30 years has held under occupation the territories of Azerbaijan recognized by international law, along with the commission of crimes against peace and humanity, as well as war crimes, continues to cause serious damage to the environmental security of the region. The damage inflicted on Armenia's fertile soils, water basins, atmosphere, forest fund, flora and fauna, mineral resources, and energy sources has led to an imbalance in the ecological balance not only in our country but also in the region as a whole. All this once again proves that Armenia commits environmental crimes, and does not fulfill its obligations under international conventions on ecology and the environment, to which it has acceded. However, we deeply regret that international organizations and international non-governmental organisations active in the field of environmental protection demonstrate silence on the problem that is the source of the global threat created by Armenia.

One of Armenia's new initiatives, which may create regional environmental problems, is the desire to build a large $70 million steel plant with an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons on an area of 16,500 square meters in the region bordering Azerbaijan and very close to the border with Turkiye - in the village of Arazdayan. Building such a plant in the area and dumping waste into the Araz River, the second largest river in the South Caucasus, could pollute not only this river but also the Arpachay. The toxic gas released into the air as a result of the activities of the plant under construction will have a serious impact on fauna and flora. Also, if the metallurgical plant starts to work, it will lead to a violation of the ecosystem, air pollution with toxic waste. Thus, Armenia again flagrantly violates the norms and principles of international law, in particular the provisions of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espo Convention). According to the provisions of this Convention, to which Armenia is a party, in the event of a negative environmental impact of a major economic activity that the participating States plan to organize on their territory, on the territory of other countries, this activity must be agreed with the relevant authorities of these countries, a document must be prepared on environmental impact assessment.

In addition, it should be especially noted that, despite the expiration of its service life, the Metsamor nuclear power plant (NPP) operating in Armenia poses a real threat not only to Azerbaijan and Armenia itself but also to the South Caucasus as a whole.

We call for international organizations active in the field of environmental protection, international non-governmental organisations, and civil society institutions to take joint decisive steps to solve global and regional environmental problems resulting from environmental crimes committed by Armenia, to fulfill the obligations arising from existing international documents in the field of environmental protection, and to prevent the recurrence of similar actions in the future.”

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