According to environmentalist Inga Zarafyan, it is not a coincidence that Azerbaijan is shelling the Davit Bek village of the Syunik Province of Armenia. During a seminar with the Media Center, Zarafyan said that there is a large reservoir in the Davit Bek village, which feeds into the entire province. “Is it a coincidence that they are shelling the village? I don’t think so.”
The environmentalist spoke about how Azerbaijan frequently announces that its reservoirs are in danger. “And are our reservoirs not in danger? They have attacked the Artsvanik village several times, which is where Armenia’s largest tailing dump is. And if that tailing dump is damaged? There is also the Teghut tailing dump, which is close to the border and also high above sea level. Not to mention the small reservoirs. Azerbaijan frequently speaks about its own risks, but are we thinking about our own?”
According to Zarafyan, the environment is severely damaged during military operations, and it is not as though there is anything that remains undamaged. The soil, water, and forests are heavily damaged in war. “According to the latest data, 1,816 hectares of forests have been damaged. How are we going to restore that? Who is going to support us in restoring those forests? Those forests do not only belong to Artsakh; they carry out a global role in preventing climate change. There are a lot of weapons in the soil, which have contaminated it.”
The environmentalist said that it is critical to work with international agencies that will support the elimination of damage to the environment in the future. She gave the example of the former Yugoslavia. “The UN accepted a large resolution for Yugoslavia that was worth several billions of dollars. Who is going to help us? We need to quickly review our relations with international agencies and appeal to those agencies with the help of the international community so that everyone can understand that this issue does not only apply to Artsakh, but also the rest of the world.”
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Nelly Babayan
