Today, Romanos Petrosyan, Armenia’s Minister of Environment wrote on his Facebook page that he had written a letter to the Executive Secretaries of Environmental Conventions, international organizations and partners, drawing their attention to the grave consequences of the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey and the involvement of foreign mercenaries.

“During the war, the Azerbaijani armed forces used internationally banned cluster munitions, weapons containing white phosphorus or termite substances against the people of Artsakh. Such actions caused irreparable damage to the environment, from large-scale forest fires to poisoning of air, soil, water, flora and fauna,” Petrosyan wrote and summarized:

Petrosyan said that Azerbaijan’s aggression was limited not only to Artsakh, but also spread to the territory of Armenia. “Presently Armenia is facing a great risk of environmental dangers,  in particular:  Loss of forest areas, forest degradation and increase  of  risks of wildfires The fires deliberately caused damage to  “Artsvaberd” and “Syunik” forest enterprises Loss or disruption of  water, sanitation, waste infrastructure, tailings, etc. Physical  damage directed  to landscapes, geodiversity, biodiversity A large  amount of debris and ruins that can cause air and soil pollution and  etc.  In this period of challenges for Armenia, it is impossible to  deal with such severe consequences of the war alone,” he said.

Armenia’s Ministry of Environment urged the international community to be actively involved and to assist in  the detailed assessment of the environmental damage in Armenia, in an  effort to mitigate the critical situation in the border area.