Azerbaijan

The war unleashed by Armenia resulted not only in the destruction of cities and villages in occupied Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding districts, but also in the extermination of plants and animals in this territory and in the disruption of the environmental balance. As a result of Armenia's aggressive policy, natural reserves, forests in specially protected areas and vegetation have been devastated. Landscapes typical of Azerbaijani nature, centenarian trees, waterfalls, natural caves, cultural parks, unique geological ridges and palaeontological layers are being destroyed.
The forests that form part of the biosphere shape the animal food chain and are home to various plants and animals. The destruction of forests in the occupied territories has taken on a mass scale. It started with the brutal destruction of valuable trees in Karabakh's Topkhana woods in 1988 when Armenia's Kanaker aluminum factory decided to build a boarding house for its staff without the permission of the Azerbaijani authorities. The destruction of the forests in the occupied territories may result in the environmental balance being disrupted in that territory and ecological disasters in the South Caucasus region. The forests are being destroyed not only for military purposes. They are also being destroyed for the production of construction materials, furniture and for other purposes with the help of the military and are being transported by military hardware. Hundreds of hectares of beech, pine, oak and other trees have been chopped down in the Talish, Gulustan and Baranbart woods in the direction of Qazakh District and along the Murovdag Mountain Ridge.

Productive beech forests, which cover a large area in Agdara and Khankandi, the decorative red oak forests in the Shalva gorge of Lachin District, wonderful plane and walnut trees in the Basitchay reserve and hazelnut trees in the Kalbajar forests are destroyed en masse by Armenia and exported abroad.
Some of the eastern plane trees in the Basitchay State Nature Reserve are 1,200-1,500 years old. Their trunks are 4 metres in diameter and more than 54 metres in height. These huge trees, which have no analogues in Europe, are being brutally destroyed by the occupiers.
Armenians who have temporarily settled there use the Araz oak as fuel all year. The mass destruction of endemic species in this uncontrolled territory can be called an act of ecological genocide.
Forests, trees, shrubs and gardens south of the village of Yusifjanli in Agdam District (contact line in Agdam District) have been totally destroyed. Forests northeast of the village of Novruzlu (Agdam District) were taken away with the help of military hardware belonging to the Armenian armed forces.

The Bank Information International Centre for Strategic Studies says in its report on terror and corruption in the world:
- A reserve that occupies an area of 107 hectares in Zangilan District has almost been wiped off the face of the earth, while plane forests have been sold to Iranian furniture factories and other construction-industrial facilities.
- Trees have been totally destroyed as a result of the deployment of Armenian military units on a 42-hectare area of the reserve;
- In 2000, 70 plane trees were sold to the governor of Tehran for 100 US dollar each;
- 110 plane trees were uprooted and transferred to the coast of the Lake Goycha (Sevan) and the suburbs of Yerevan;
- In 1995-97, 89 Armenians and 136 Persians received treatment for tuberculosis on the territory of the Basitchay reserve.

As a result of illegal road construction, mass destruction of forests, bombings and fires in this period, more than 0.5 million trees and shrubs, 152 relict species of trees, 12,197,500 hectares of valuable forest areas, 665 hectares of naturally restored forests, 75 hectares of artificial forests and five geological objects declared as natural monuments were brutally destroyed and used for commercial purposes in Qazakh, Tovuz, Zangilan, Gadabay, Kalbajar, Khanlar and Qubadli districts and in the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region. Vineyards were also dried and destroyed, while concrete pillars were used for engineering and fortification work.
Radioactive waste products delivered from Armenia are dumped in the occupied territories, especially in Agdam District. A 250,000-hectare forest has been polluted with radioactive waste in Nagorno Karabakh.
The boundless high alpine meadows of Kalbajar District have changed beyond recognition. In rainy days, the Armenians go beyond major roads, driving heavy military vehicles in meadows, destroying productive pastures and causing soil erosion.
Bodies of water located in and flowing through the occupied territories (lakes, water reservoirs, rivers and canals) play an important role in the ecology not only of those territories, but also of surrounding territories. It is known that the Armenians are polluting rivers flowing through the occupied territories with various waste products and contaminated waters. The Khoneshen, Qarqarchay, Khachinchay and Tartarchay rivers originate in the occupied territories, and domestic waste is being discharged into those rivers.
The Khonashen River, which flows from the west to the east, is being polluted with sewerage and waste from the Khojavand District central hospital which is located at a distance of 200-300 metres from the river, as well as waste products from a pig and cattle-breeding complex located in that area.
The ecological condition of the Araz River, which plays an important role in the natural environment of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, is even more deplorable. For example, the pollution of the river by the Armenian side for many years has killed or reduced its valuable fish population. The 21 species of fish previously registered in the river have fallen to 16 as a result of the extinction that has happened over the past 10-15 years.

Gold from the Zod deposit is purified with the help of dangerous cyanogens, while the toxic water is discharged into the Araz River. This creates grounds for Armenians to disrupt the soil, atmospheric and ecological balance in the South Caucasus region.
People who have used water from the Kondalanchay and Quruchay rivers flowing, through Fizuli District, have reported skin diseases. The reason is that the Armenians have set up a special laboratory between the villages of Seyidmahmudlu and Qarakhanbayli in Fizuli District, which is engaged in studying infectious diseases.
They study the internal organs of people suffering from infectious diseases, especially ill prisoners of war, and then release infectious remains into the Kondalanchay River, which is flowing through that territory in our direction, spreading infections. The pollution of those rivers by the Armenians gives rise to various diseases.
The technical installations of the Sarsang water reservoir are not being serviced and the water regime is not being observed. Since the water reservoir is unsafe, 400,000 people living below its level are in danger. Apart from that, since the Sarsang water reservoir was occupied, they have released 85-90 per cent of annually consumed water when it is not necessary, especially in winter.
Istisu water in the occupied Kalbajar District of the Azerbaijan Republic is bottled and sold with a label in Persian on the chemical composition of the water. The label also says that the water is from a spring in the town of Jermuk in Armenia.
The Armenian nationalists who have settled in the occupied territory of Karabakh cultivate narcotic plants and have turned this territory into a den of terror.
The Armenian occupiers deliberately set fire to the territory of Agdam, Fizuli, Jabrayil, Tartar and Khojavand districts along the entire contact line. The fires cover thousands of hectares of land controlled by the Armenians and at the same time, spread over to territories under Azerbaijani control, causing great damage to the environment. As a result of fires, harmful insects, reptiles, rodents and wild animals move from the opposite side to our territory and cause damage to farms. The fires destroy sawing areas and pastures and reduce water reserves.