By: Mr. Tural Ganjaliev, Member of Parliament of Azerbaijan for the city of Khankendi
Everyone deserves to live in a safe and healthy environment. With the global impact of environmental catastrophes becoming increasingly pronounced, it is important more than ever to unite around the issue of preserving and protecting our environment.
At every level – be it individual, organizational or state level – making the prevention of harmful changes to natural ecosystems must be our top priority. If an environmental catastrophe happens in one part of the world, we all suffer its consequences in one way or another.
We often witness environmental catastrophes due to global warming in the form of wildfires, heat waves, floods, droughts which urge humanity to reduce carbon footprint through cooperation and technological innovations. Unfortunately, we also witness environmental catastrophes in the form of ecological terrorism which is the destruction of the environment by states, groups, or individuals in order to intimidate or to coerce governments or civilians.
Azerbaijan has suffered one of the worst ecological terrors in the modern era perpetrated by Armenia during the three-decades long occupation, looting and plundering of nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories. Armenia deliberately cut or burned thousands of square km of forests that contained centuries old rare tree species. It built dams to prevent rivers from flowing into the parts of Azerbaijan that were not occupied. In summer months when farmers needed irrigation water the most, it dried out the river beds, while in winter months, when the water was not needed, it released huge volumes of water from the dams which caused massive floods and erosion of farm lands.
Armenia also has been committing ecological terror against Azerbaijan by polluting the Okhchuchay river which flows from Armenia to Azerbaijan. The mining companies on the Armenian side have been releasing so much poisonous industrial waste into the river that all life forms have gone extinct. Since Okhchuchay river eventually merges with the Araz river, this also pollutes the water in the Araz river which is used by hundreds of thousands of people as the irrigation water throughout Azerbaijan. What is more troubling is that the companies involved in those activities are transnational companies which take all the necessary measures to prevent such cases in their home countries but completely ignore the same precautions in their operations far from their home countries.
During the years of occupation, Armenia also caused irreversible environmental damage through illegal and irresponsible exploitation of Azerbaijan’s natural resources, such as extraction of rare earth elements, rocks, sand, and minerals. In addition to these, Armenia rendered useless thousands of square km of fertile lands by contaminating it with nearly one million landmines. These environmental damages were purposefully and systematically carried out by Armenia to make Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region uninhabitable for a million ethnically cleansed Azerbaijanis during its 30 years long occupation.
Armenia’s environmental terror against Azerbaijan is not limited only to the territories it once occupied. It’s other internal operations also pose grave environmental threats to its neighbors. Armenia’s Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, which is being operated beyond its lifetime on an extended lease is one such threat. This Power plant does not meet a range of international safety standards, such as the lack of a required containment vessel and the fact that it was built to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 7 but is located in an area prone to earthquakes with magnitude of up to 8. The transport of the nuclear fuel and disposal of radioactive waste is also not done in a safe manner. Given all these, the region is facing a looming threat of a nuclear disaster due to Armenia’s irresponsible policies. The International Atomic Energy Agency and other concerned parties need to pressure Armenia to shut down and safely decommission the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant.
Despite all the above-mentioned acts of ecological terror, and many more hate-fueled actions against Azerbaijan, we call for cooperation on the issues of the environment. We all must unite to stop inequalities in the right to a safe, healthy, and clean environment!