Illegal mining activities continue in Armenia, Co-founder of “Environmental Protection First” coalition Amin Mammadov said during a media briefing, AzVision.az reports.

He said that the “Environmental Protection First” coalition was supported by Armenian NGOs protesting against the Armenian government's plans to mine gold in the Amuldagh mine in early 2024.

He noted that following this activity, in May 2024, a map of Armenia's mining industry in Armenian, English, and Azerbaijani, prepared by the Society of Cartographers of Azerbaijan, a member of the coalition, was presented to the public.

“Despite all these actions and protests, the Armenian government continues to allow foreign investor companies to invest in these activities on Armenian territory and does not require them to submit any environmental impact assessment reports either to the Armenian public or to neighboring countries.

Thus Armenia continues to seriously violate the Aarhus Convention (On Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters) to which it has acceded, as well as the Espoo Convention (Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context).

In this context, there have been repeated protests both from the relevant governmental structures of Azerbaijan and from civil society.

Independent experts of Azerbaijan demanded the monitoring of enterprises operating in these territories in Armenia and the involvement of Azerbaijani specialists in this monitoring.

Meanwhile, there have not been any statements or positions on the part of Armenia regarding the fulfillment of this demand. As members of the coalition, we once again express our strong protest on this issue and, drawing the attention of the international community to this issue, we demand from Armenia serious steps in this area,” he added.

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