BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 27. Azerbaijan is seeking stronger support from Korea in its ongoing demining efforts, stated Elchin Amirbayov, Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan for Special Assignments, TurkicWorld reports.
"One major area where we hope for Korea's assistance is demining. The conflict-affected regions - comprising 12 percent of our territory - are heavily contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance.
Although Korea has not been very active in this area for us, we know you have a strong track record of helping other countries in similar situations. We hope the Korean government will provide more substantial support because it is crucial for post-conflict peacebuilding," Amirbayov said in an interview with The Korea Times.
He pointed out that Azerbaijan has only managed to clear 13 percent of the contaminated areas, leaving 87 percent still posing a threat.
"We’re dealing with 1.5 million landmines planted by Armenians over the years. They refuse to provide us with accurate mine maps, leaving us in the dark about where the mines are concentrated, which continues to take a heavy human toll. Since the ceasefire, the number of mine victims has reached 377, with the latest incident just today, where the 378th person was injured by stepping on a mine. Out of these, 69 people have lost their lives," Amirbayov added.
