UK backs Azerbaijan’s demining activities in liberated lands
By Vugar Khalilov
The UK has contributed over AZN 1 million (£500,000) to Azerbaijan’s recovery efforts and demining activities in its liberated lands, the UK embassy in Azerbaijan has reported on its Twitter account.
“The UK announces that it has allocated £500,000 to support the UNDP's [United Nations Development Programme] efforts after the last year's Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the embassy tweeted.
Meanwhile, UK ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp said in a video address posted on the the embassy's Twitter account on September 2 that landmines and unexploded ordnance in the liberated areas pose a threat to people’s lives and there have been over 150 victims of mine explosions following the last year’s war.
He described the former conflict zone as one of the world’s most mine-littered areas based on his own observations.
Therefore, the UK 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.
In Sharp’s words, the British mine clearance companies and the UK Defence Ministry had also been involved in demining operations in Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, the ambassador urged the international community to support Azerbaijan through the UNDP initiative in this process. He called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to collaborate with international humanitarian organizations in this sphere.
Sharp also invited the two countries to sign the Ottawa convention, which bans planting anti-personnel mines.
Moreover, reposting British MP Wendy Morton’s supportive tweet on Azerbaijan, Sharp expressed his satisfaction with the UK government’s decision.
"Unexploded mines in the territory in and around Karabakh kill on a weekly basis. To truly tackle this issue, we also need collective action. The UK is now calling on other countries to help support the UNDP initiative," Morton wrote on her Tweeter account.
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