President Aliyev Recalls Armenia’s Extensive Environmental Destruction in Occupied Azerbaijani Lands

President Ilham Aliyev has underscored the importance of the spiritual resources of various faiths and beliefs in addressing the existential challenges posed by climate change.

President Aliyev’s remarks were made on Tuesday in his address to participants of the “World Religions for a Green Planet” Global Summit of Religious Leaders, held in Azerbaijan as part of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The two-day summit is attended by nearly 30 leaders of world and traditional religions, heads of prominent religious centers – including patriarchs, officials from the Vatican and Al-Azhar – as well as distinguished religious and public figures from various continents and faiths. In total, the event brings together state, academic, and religious leaders, along with representatives from media entities, from 55 countries and 30 international organizations.

This third convening of global religious leaders in Baku aims to make a tangible contribution to the moral assessment of the critical global issue of climate change.

In his address, President Aliyev highlighted Azerbaijan’s commitment to numerous conventions and agreements addressing environmental issues, fostering cooperation with various countries, and implementing diverse programs in this area. To support environmental protection, effective institutional mechanisms and a favorable investment climate have been established through a comprehensive legislative framework.

Simultaneously, the president recalled the dire consequences of ecocide, culturicide, and urbicide committed by Armenia during the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

“In the recent past, our country was involved in an unjust war, having been subjected to groundless territorial claims, and had to experience the severe consequences of this bloody war,” President Ilham Aliyev said, referring to the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

Environmental and cultural vandalism by Armenia were prevalent in the once-occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Affected sites, including mosques, memorials, museums, and statues, have been documented and archived by the Azerbaijani government, revealing extensive destruction in the Karabakh (Garabagh) and East Zangazur regions of Azerbaijan, including in the city of Aghdam, where the world-renowned Bread Museum was located, as well as in Fuzuli, which was also completely razed to the ground.

Preliminary estimates indicate that the material damage caused by Armenia to Azerbaijan’s infrastructure, resources, and citizens totals $818 billion, while environmental crimes have resulted in damages amounting to $285 billion.

The world’s second-largest sycamore forest in the Zangilan region has suffered severely from deliberate deforestation and arson, which have also been reported in the Kalbajar and Lachin districts, even after the war in 2020. Furthermore, the Okhchu River and the Vejnali gold deposit in Zangilan have been subjected to large-scale ecological terrorism and illegal exploitation.

From 2001 to 2020, Armenian ecological terrorism annihilated 324 hectares of tree cover in the Karabakh region, including in Tartar, Khojavand, Khojaly, Fuzuli, and Aghdam districts, according to Global Forest Watch, an online platform for monitoring global forests.

The consequences of Armenia’s eco-terrorism are also evident in the Okhchu River, which has reportedly been used by Armenian producers as a “collector” for disposing of industrial waste from their territory. Analysis of water samples from the Okhchu River revealed a high concentration of life-threatening elements, including heavy metals, such as copper, molybdenum, manganese, iron, zinc, and chromium. The levels of nickel were seven times, iron four times, and copper-molybdenum two times higher than normal, according to examination results. In 2021, a mass extinction of trout was observed in the Okhchu River basin.

Armenia also deprived Azerbaijan of the potential of three large hydropower stations in the Karabakh region, including the Sarsang, Khudafarin, and Giz Galasi hydroelectric stations, through illegal occupation. The Sarsang water reservoir once provided irrigation water for approximately 125,000 hectares of land across six districts of Azerbaijan. Armenian forces manipulated the Sarsang water reservoir, creating artificial floods in winter and droughts in summer. The lack of technical oversight and outdated equipment posed a threat of reservoir dam failure, which could lead to flooding in several regions of Azerbaijan.

During the years of occupation, Azerbaijan was unable to utilize the extensive geothermal power resources in the Kalbajar and Shusha districts. According to the Energy Ministry of Azerbaijan, there are 3,093 cubic meters per day of thermal water reserves in Kalbajar and 412 cubic meters per day in Shusha.