(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Fatime Letifova Read more
The liberation of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied territories in2020 was a watershed moment for Azerbaijanis, particularly over700,000 displaced people who had to move from their homes in theearly 1990s. After decades of displacement, Azerbaijanis were ableto return to their homelands and rebuild their communities.
This great occasion, however, has been overshadowed and ruinedby the widespread presence of landmines and explosive war remnantsleft by Armenia. Throughout the period of conflict and the Armenianoccupation of Azerbaijan's territories, Armenia indiscriminatelyplanted hundreds of thousands of mines and other explosive devicesin the territories, including the areas where civilians lived.
According to Vugar Suleymanov, the Chairman of the ManagementBoard of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA),the number of mine victims since the Second Garabagh War hasreached 350 and 65 of them died. More than 70% of landmine victimsare civilians. Among them are people of all age categories. Thetotal number of landmine victims in Azerbaijan is 3,429, including357 children and 38 women. 595 of those people lost theirlives.
Despite attempts at formally requesting information about thelocation of those mines, Armenia repeatedly denied that itpossessed the relevant information and refused to engage on theissue.
Finally, in February this year, Armenia has submitted 8minefield maps of territories located in the liberated lands toAzerbaijan. These maps cover some of the areas along the formercontact line. However, the maps covering part of the former contactline passing through Khojavand, Tartar, and Goranboy districts, aswell as the areas mined by Armenian military units when theyretreated in November 2020, has not been submitted yet.
Many have suspicions about these maps because previous minefieldmaps submitted by Armenia were inaccurate. Only 25 percent of thesemaps were correct. Especially submitting minefield maps of theheight where civilians do not live increases this suspicion. It isalso worth noting that more than 55% of recent landmine cases haveoccurred outside the areas covered by the information provided.
The behavior that Armenia displayed by relation to the landminethreat is indeed another setback to the peace andconfidence-building measures taken during the post-conflict periodin the region.
It is worth noting that because of Azerbaijan's liberatedterritories remain contaminated with mine, the new infrastructureand green energy projects remains a risky and problematic goal obstacles to a legal peace are part of the challenges facingthe repopulation, development and integration of the liberatedterritories on the path to a full peace.
The Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, known as ANAMA,has grown from a fledgling organization to one fully equipped toclear mines, provide risk education and assist survivors ofaccidents. Today ANAMA's efforts are aimed to continue increasingand expansion of mine action capacity to provide the clearance ofall liberated areas of Azerbaijan.
Since the end of the Patriotic War, the presence of the braveAzerbaijani women sappers in the minefields, the riskiest areas inthe world, has been a special moment in modern history. Throwingtheir whole safety and lives into a risk those brave women savemany lives by removing each landmine.
Last year, ANAMA, the European Union, UNDP launched a deminingproject to help save lives and enable internally displaced personsto return home. The project covered 20 villages and have 33,604families as direct beneficiaries. The project also established thefirst female teams in Azerbaijan to carry out demining operations,which is traditionally considered a male occupation.
Eighteen wholehearted and strong Azerbaijani female deminersreceived their accreditation certificates successfully. Through thetheoretical and practical trainings, the teams of female deminersacquired the foundational knowledge, necessary skills and therequired code of conduct to recognize, detect and mark mines andunexploded ordnance, and to provide first aid.
The training series was conducted by the international expertsof the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) non-governmentalorganization.
Let us not forget that thepeople of Azerbaijan have always held deep respect for women andhave esteemed the rights of mothers highly. The primary principlesof the state's women's policy have evolved from this centuries-oldfoundation. Involvement of Azerbaijani women in such an importantactivity as humanitarian demining is especially essential and willmake many contributions towards the achievement of the sustainabledevelopment goals.
Recall that even in the first and the second Garabagh wars,Azerbaijani women stood shoulder to shoulder with Azerbaijani men to information based on the state statistics, the numberof women who participated in the First Garabagh war was 2533 Yusifova, Garatel Hajimahmudova, Gultekin Asgarova, VafaMansurova, Solmaz Aliyeva, Tarana Orujova, Samaya Badalova are fromthose women who sacrificed their lives for the liberation ofAzerbaijan's Garabagh.
As enlightened successors to their strong predecessors whodiligently worked on the path of progress, their current publicreputation and important achievements in the field of military anddemining are among key characteristic features of the comprehensivedevelopment of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani women will continue to attach special importance tothe motherland and statehood and closely participate inconstruction work in the interests of Azerbaijan's bright futurewith their public and cultural, and even military activities thatbring harmony to the development of society.
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