BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 14. The Azerbaijani
diaspora active in European countries has not remained indifferent
to the mine explosions that occurred on April 6 and 7 in
Azerbaijan’s Aghdam and Jabrayil districts, Trend reports via the
State Committee on Work with Diaspora.
The committee reported that as a result of these tragic
incidents, one serviceman of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces was
killed, and four civilians, including underage children, were
injured to varying degrees.
The diaspora sent letters of protest to a number of
international organizations, including the United Nations Mine
Action Service (UNMAS), the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the European External Action
Service (EEAS) and its representation in the United States, the
OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR),
the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the European
office of Human Rights Watch, the German branch of Amnesty
International, and media organizations such as BBC News, Deutsche
Welle, France 24, Al Jazeera English, and The Guardian.
The letters emphasized that the mine threat on the territories
of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation has still not been
eliminated, and the lives of innocent people remain under constant
threat. The refusal to provide maps of minefields planted by
Armenia, which continue to cause tragedies, was strongly condemned.
Since the end of the Second Karabakh War in November 2020, 392
people have been killed or injured as a result of mine
explosions.
Besides, the letters called for urgent attention to the
humanitarian situation in areas contaminated by Armenian mines, as
well as holding Armenia accountable under international law, which
remain key responsibilities of international institutions.
The diaspora called on the international community to pay
attention to Armenia’s ongoing military provocations and mine
terrorism and to take decisive action to achieve lasting peace and
stability in the region.
Particularly active in the protest actions against mine
terrorism were: the Prague House of Azerbaijani Culture, the
Hungarian House of Azerbaijan, the Society of Azerbaijanis of
Barcelona, the Bremen House of Azerbaijani Culture, the European
Azerbaijani Center, the Public Union for Promoting
Azerbaijani-Bulgarian Friendship, the Association of
Azerbaijani-Turkic Culture, the European Azerbaijani Women Union
“Ana Vatan” (“Motherland”), the Coordinating Council of
Azerbaijanis of the Netherlands-Belgium, the Coordinating Council
of Azerbaijanis of France, the “MADANI-Azerbaijani Platform for
Culture, Sports, Thought, Solidarity and Future Opportunities”, the
Swedish-Azerbaijani Cultural Association, the “Khari-Bulbul” World
Azerbaijanis Cultural Association, and the “Gala” Greek-Azerbaijani
Friendship Society.
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