Javid Shahverdiyev from Baku
The primary focus in the South Caucasus region today is the signing of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Following Second Karabakh War and the anti-terror operations conducted on September 19–20, 2023, new opportunities for peace have emerged. However, there are still significant obstacles hindering the peace agenda. One of the most critical issues is the matter of landmine maps. Landmine terror is one of the key indicators of Armenian terrorism.
Armenia’s landmine terror has become even more evident and pronounced in the post-war period following the 44-day Patriotic War. Since 2020, hundreds of Azerbaijani citizens have become victims of this terror, either directly or indirectly. This clearly shows that Armenia continues to pursue a policy of revenge. The ongoing consequences are the result of many years of deliberate landmine placement by Armenia in the occupied territories.
As a result of Armenia’s ongoing landmine terror, innocent people continue to lose their lives or suffer serious injuries. Since 2020, landmines laid by the Armenian side, along with unexploded ordnance, have caused the death or injury of 392 people. This is not only a physical threat but also a serious psychological and social burden on affected individuals and communities.
The landmines planted during the occupation period pose a major threat to establishing lasting peace in the region. International cooperation and assistance are crucial in eliminating this danger. At the same time, the grave humanitarian situation in the mine-contaminated areas requires serious international attention.
Holding Armenia accountable within the framework of international law remains a critical responsibility for relevant international organizations. The deliberate planting of landmines constitutes a severe violation of human rights and significantly impedes the restoration of peace and security in the region.
President Ilham Aliyev Highlights the Case of Azerbaijani Casualties Due to Armenian Land Mines
The Landmine Issue Has Become One of Azerbaijan’s Most Serious Problems Today, the landmine issue has become one of Azerbaijan’s biggest challenges.
Following 30 years of plundering and destruction by Armenia, the Azerbaijani state is carrying out large-scale reconstruction and development efforts in the liberated territories of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, and is facilitating the return of displaced persons to their homelands. However, the landmine threat poses a serious obstacle to this process and remains a danger to the lives and health of civilians. Armenia’s objective is a continuation of warfare against Azerbaijan’s civilian population.
The discovery of mines and booby traps in residential homes, cemeteries, and other civilian sites across the liberated territories is clear evidence of this. Some mass graves have even been surrounded by mines. Landmines were planted in these areas to target people searching for or visiting the graves of their loved ones after decades of longing.
In addition to civilians, animals have also fallen victim to this mine terror. In fact, as they retreated from Aghdam, Kalbajar, and Lachin in 2020, Armenian forces planted additional mines. This constitutes a crime against humanity. According to assessments by demining experts, approximately 4.5 million mines may have been planted in areas already cleared or planned for future clearance.
Experts estimate that the total cost of the mines laid by Armenia could reach $400 million — a staggering figure by local standards. This suggests that during the years of occupation, Armenia spent nearly 50% of its 2020 military budget or 10% of its entire state budget on mining Azerbaijani territories.
At the opening ceremony of the 2nd Shusha Global Media Forum in July 2024, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev also addressed Armenia’s contamination of Azerbaijani territory with landmines after the war. “After the signing of the Trilateral Statement on November 10, 2020, and during the period when we did not have control over the Lachin corridor, mines were transported from Armenia and planted in Karabakh.
How do we know this? Because the mines bear inscriptions such as ‘Manufactured in 2021, Made in Armenia.’ Just imagine — even after the Second Karabakh War ended, they continued carrying out mine terror against us.”
President Aliyev also brought to the forum participants’ attention that many countries around the world are suffering from landmine terrorism. He stressed that the minefield maps provided by Armenia are completely useless and inaccurate: “At first, when we requested the maps, Armenia’s prime minister told me that they didn’t exist. Later, they were forced to admit that the maps did exist — but they were utterly unreliable.”
President Aliyev emphasized that landmines remain the biggest obstacle to the return of former internally displaced persons to their homes. He noted that before any infrastructure projects or residential construction begins in these areas, they must first be demined: “Unfortunately, we lack sufficient resources and experienced personnel.
International organizations and companies are offering us prices that are 5 to 10 times higher per square meter than what we can afford. We have our own Mine Action Agency and local companies. But how long this process will take — it is very hard to say.” It is widely recognized that the rehabilitation of the liberated territories is a long and arduous task.
President Aliyev reminded forum participants that even in the Balkans, mine explosions continue to occur 25 years after conflict ended, stressing that this has become a global problem: “Although the conflict in the Balkans ended years ago, such incidents still happen. Sadly, we too will face this issue for decades to come. Current data suggests that more than one million mines have been planted in our territories.”
Armenia, the Country That Produces and Illegally Deploys Landmines, Has Yet to Be Condemned Armenia, which manufactures and illegally plants landmines in Azerbaijani territories, has not yet faced international condemnation. The minefield maps and forms provided by Armenia do not reflect the actual situation on the ground.
Information about sector boundaries, types of mines, distances between them, and methods of deployment are deliberately falsified in these documents. This significantly hampers demining operations and delays the return of Azerbaijani citizens to their native lands. It should be emphasized that legal procedures for compelling Armenia to pay compensation for the billions of dollars Azerbaijan will have to spend on demining must be accelerated.
Religious Manipulation of U.S.A State Department in Case of Azerbaijan & Armenia
Armenia must be held financially responsible for clearing the lands it turned into the world’s most heavily mined territory. The Azerbaijani government has repeatedly called on Armenia to provide accurate mine maps. It must be understood that the large-scale mining of civilian areas is not only a gross violation of international law, but also constitutes a crime against humanity.
Armenia’s placement of mines far beyond former frontlines clearly aims to increase civilian casualties. Today, massive reconstruction projects are underway in the liberated territories — and the majority of mine victims are civilian workers engaged in these reconstruction efforts. This is a serious obstacle to speeding up recovery. Therefore, relevant international organizations and the global community as a whole must respond adequately to Azerbaijan’s appeals and apply pressure on Armenia to hand over complete and accurate minefield maps.
Despite now speaking of peace, Armenia continues to violate fundamental principles of international law by withholding accurate minefield maps. The continued planting of mines and Armenia’s refusal to provide precise maps for the mined areas in Azerbaijan’s liberated territories are blatant demonstrations of disregard for international humanitarian law.
It is especially concerning that international organizations, which are otherwise quick to issue statements about the rights of Armenians, remain silent on Armenia’s ongoing mine terror and its failure to provide maps. In reality, international organizations — led by the United Nations — must place firm pressure on Armenia to hand over minefield maps. After all, it is these very institutions that have adopted numerous international legal instruments that impose obligations on states regarding mine clearance.
These include: The 1949 Geneva Conventions on the protection of war victims; The 1980 UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, particularly Protocol II on landmines; The 1997 Ottawa Treaty (the Mine Ban Treaty) prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines.
“The Liberation of Azerbaijani Territories from Illegal Occupation of Armenia”
Given Armenia’s gross violations of these international commitments, it must be held accountable in international courts. The legal framework exists, and states and organizations have clear obligations — yet international institutions appear to be turning a blind eye to Armenia’s war crimes.
Armenia’s refusal to provide accurate maps of the mined areas once again proves that the occupying state has not abandoned its hostile intentions. Its aim in withholding maps is to increase civilian casualties, obstruct the restoration of peaceful life in the liberated territories, and hinder the return of displaced Azerbaijani citizens to their homes.
In other words, Armenia seeks to maintain permanent military tension in the region. Armenia’s Inexcusable Conduct Regarding the Landmine Issue is a Clear Display of Disrespect for International Legal Norms and Principles Unfortunately, there has been no response from the international community to Armenia’s ongoing landmine terror and acts of vandalism.
Leading world powers and international organizations remain silent in the face of these violations. We believe it is imperative to raise the alarm against this silence and to ensure that the aggressor state, Armenia, is held accountable by the international community. The role of international organizations must go beyond publishing annual reports on casualties from mine explosions, terrorist attacks, or wars, and issuing generic statements.
These institutions are obligated to fulfill their commitments toward every member state. It is worth questioning the purpose of international organizations if they fail to fulfill their duties. Are they meant to defend terrorist states like Armenia, turn a blind eye to war crimes, or simply document deaths from landmine explosions?
If international organizations had honored their obligations and applied pressure on the aggressor, there would have been no war, and no need to compile lists of landmine victims. Responsibility in this matter lies not only with international organizations, but also with the Armenian government.
If Armenia’s military-political leadership is genuinely interested in long-term peace in the region, it must provide Azerbaijan with accurate minefield maps. It must also fulfill its obligations under the international conventions it has signed, as well as the terms of the trilateral declarations signed on and after November 10, 2020. Otherwise, long-term peace in the region will remain unattainable.
From Armenian Aggression to Azerbaijani Victory / Lessons to Learn- Tazeen Akhtar
Even in times of silence, the landmines continue to kill Russian journalist Dmitry Vinogradov, in his article titled “Karabakh: An Endless Minefield. Armenia Wasted Hundreds of Millions of Dollars” published in Svobodnaya Pressa, writes that despite the silence of weapons, military and civilian casualties continue in the former conflict zone.
The reason: landmines scattered across Karabakh. He notes that the mining of Azerbaijani territories began during the First Karabakh War and continued during the years between the two wars. The fighting in the spring of 2016 only accelerated the pace of mining.
Evidently, Armenia anticipated a major war as inevitable. “Demining,” the journalist writes, “is a long and costly process. Armenian armed forces have mined nearly every inch of the land they controlled for nearly 30 years. According to demining experts, around 1.5 million mines may have been planted in areas already cleared or scheduled to be cleared.”
The international community must not turn a blind eye to Armenia’s ongoing Mine Terror Against Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan expects active support from international organizations in the process of clearing its territories of landmines. While it is true that some international institutions and countries have provided financial aid for this purpose, as we have stated, relevant international organizations, national parliaments, and human rights institutions must not remain indifferent to Armenia’s ongoing mine terror against Azerbaijan.
They must respond strongly to Armenia’s military and environmental crimes and violations of humanitarian law. Furthermore, they must exert serious pressure on Armenia to ensure that accurate minefield maps are submitted to Azerbaijan without delay.
