Azerbaijani NGO to map Armenia's mining industry

Chairman of Azerbaijan Cartographers Public Association Mugabil Bayramov has said that a map of Armenia's mining industry will be released for the first time in 2024 to demonstrate to the world what a big threat these enterprises pose to the regional ecology.

He said that this project will be the first work of the non-governmental organization (NGO) he heads, Report informs.

"I have been engaged in professional cartography for almost 40 years. At a meeting this summer, President Ilham Aliyev described in detail the threat posed by Armenian mining enterprises to the ecology of the region and spoke about the importance of bringing this information to the world community. The idea emerged after his speech. Every effort was made to create this map," Bayramov said.

He emphasized that the map will be published in three languages - Azerbaijani, English and Armenian, and will include Azerbaijani toponyms, oronyms and hydronyms.

"2024 is the year of COP29, and we will present this map to foreign NGOs who will come to Azerbaijan so that they will be more aware of the threat posed by Armenia's mining enterprises to the ecology of the South Caucasus. Armenia itself has never published such a map. It seems that they are trying to hide the location of the enterprises from the international community, the chairman added.

According to the NGO chairman, thanks to the new map, the Armenian public will also have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the location of mining enterprises.

"I think they will be able to find answers to many questions. Armenian NGOs in recent years have also sounded the alarm about the mining activities in their country, which do not meet any environmental standards. This map will be of interest to them as well,” he said.