Azerbaijan presents demining project for Djeyranchol steppe

Today, Baku hosted the presentation of the project "Djeyranchol", developed by the National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) and the Trust Foundation of the NATO Programme "Partnership for Peace".

The "Caucasian Knot" ha s reported that the project "Djeyranchol" stipulates conducting works to clear from mines the Djeyranchol steppe in the western part of Azerbaijan.

The Djeyranchol steppe is located along the Azerbaijan-Georgia border, 500 kilometres west of Baku. During the Soviet times, in the period of 1955-1991, the territory was intensively used for military training and testing. There, a testing ground, entitled "General", located.

"Unexploded shells create serious danger to local population"

"The remaining mines and unexploded shells create a serious danger to the local population, environment, social and economic and humanitarian situation in the region," stated Nazism Ismailia, Director of the ANAMA.

According to him, in 2009, during the study, a large number of unexploded munitions, anti-tank mines, artillery mines of various calibres, and fallen aerial bombs were found.

Earlier, the joint efforts of NATO and ANAMA developed the project "Solola." In 1991, an explosion at a warehouse near the city of Solola scattered ammunition in the territory of 40 million square meters. Within 10 days, more than 100 explosions occurred at the warehouse. As a result, 80 persons were wounded, and 13 persons were killed. In the years of 2005-2011, the organization ANAMA with technical and financial support of NATO cleared the indicated territory, and, as a result, 600,000 of unexploded munitions were extracted.

The projects "Solola" and "Djeyranchol" are of importance in terms of regional security and energy security. This was emphasized by Abed Saratov, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan. Nearby, two important strategic pipelines - the pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Cayman and gas pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum - are located.

According to Saratov, the project "Djeyranchol" will give impetus to the economic revitalization of the region, development of agriculture. Decades due to the threat of mines and UPON these lands remained unhandled.

Total project cost to amount nine million euros

James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for South Caucasus and Central Asia, has noted high potential of ANAMA in clearing of mines. Meanwhile, he pointed out to the extension of the ANAMA's activity outside of Azerbaijan. In particular, he mentioned work, conducted by the organization in Georgia and Afghanistan.

Besides, the training ground of the ANAMA, founded in 2009 with the support of the UN, welcomed specialists from Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Georgia, and Jordan.

On October 4, 2011, the project "Djeyranchol" was approved by NATO. Total cost of the project to be developed within 28 months will amount to 9 million euros. The project consists of two stages.

The first stage, with the cost of works amounting to 3 million euros, began in this April. Within 14 months, the territory of 19 square kilometres will be cleared. At present, 400 square meters have been already cleared, 70 mines and unexploded munitions have been extracted. Works on clearing were carried out by 60 combat engineers with assistance of specially trained dogs.

Half the cost of the first phase of the project 1, 545,000 euros was paid the government of Azerbaijan. The USA, the leading donor of the project, allocated to the project 730,000 euros. The United Kingdom also acts as a donor. It is expected that Turkey would also provide financial support.