As reported earlier, the 16^th session of the Youth Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member Nations is being held in St Petersburg on 18-22 May and the members of the Milli Majlis Emin Hajiyev and Nigyar Arpadarai are taking part in it.

Emin Hajiyev spoke at the meeting ‘Youth Legislative Initiatives and Public Projects Concerning Ecology and Environmental Protection’ that was held on 20 May.

The Azerbaijani MP talked about the environmental protection efforts made at the state level and stressed that the public, too, had an important part assigned in the process. There is the energetic public association ‘The International Dialogue about Environmental Protection’ (IDEA) in our country that has carried out dozens of projects over the past decade engaging the youth of Azerbaijan in environmental protection activities and arrangements. IDEA works purposefully on public enlightenment and informing citizens of ecological problems and solutions. This public association is currently busy implementing projects dealing with protection of aquatic resources of Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, protection and restoration of bio-resources of the national water basins, the Ghizilagaj State Preserve and the Caspian Sea.

The IDEA Resource Centre organises events marking the World Maritime Day as well as tree-planting and scrap paper collection campaigns on the 25^th of September every year. The ‘Our Yard’ project aiming to rearrange and keep in order residential building yards has been started at the suggestion of IDEA, too.

Emin Hajiyev told the participants of the meeting also that the ecological terror having been wreaked in the formerly-occupied lands of our country had been a major source of concern for the Azerbaijani youth for long years.

‘Arsons were organised and unique forests were cut down in a planned manner and for years in our territories that used to be occupied by Armenia. Many a footage of the en masse wood-cutting in the Garabagh Region of Azerbaijan and the eyewitness testimonies were uploaded to social networks and broadcast by mass media. The ecological vandalism was repeated in autumn last year as the Armenians leaving the provinces liberated by the Azerbaijani Army were setting fire to houses and forests and thus inflicting a grave impact on the local flora and fauna,’ the Azerbaijan MP was saying.

Going further, MP Hajiyev brought up another form of ecological terror – he mentioned the numerous Armenian drops of toys stuffed with makeshift explosive devices into the rivers of Terterchay, Khachinchay and Gargarchay. The enemy had one that expecting children playing on river banks to pull those toys out of water and end up being killed in the blasts.

‘That precisely occurred in the Tovuz Province of Azerbaijan as a 13-year-old Aygun Shahmaliyeva of the Alibayli village fished a toy dog out of the river and brought it back home on 14 July 2011. The improved explosive device was triggered during the play. That girl died on the way to hospital. There was a similar case in 1994 when the explosive device hidden in a toy killed two young children and wounded another in 1994. Dozens of children were killed and hundreds wounded in mine explosions and firing attacks in general throughput the occupation period.’

Then, Emin Hajiyev told the colleagues of the IDEA project called ‘Youth Involvement in Ecological Appraisal in Azerbaijan’s Liberated Territories’. The action plan envisages assessment of the damage inflicted on the nature of Azerbaijan during almost thirty years of the Armenian occupation, land restoration and development of ecological damage appraisal rules.

Speaking then of the environmental problems mounting worldwide, the Azerbaijani MP remarked that solving them would claim more efforts and larger resources.

‘The youth activists who care about the future of our Planet ought to unite efforts to ensure environmental protection and discovery of efficient solutions to related problems. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the awareness of ecological problems, have the youth involved in economic activities and examine both premeditated and accidental damage to the environment. The young generation should realise the shared responsibility of their countries for the ecological future of the region. It is only through joint efforts that we can achieve positive results in protecting the natural environment,’ the Azerbaijani MP went on.

‘Solution of environmental problems also depends in many respects on our lifestyles, which is where great tasks befall the young generation. Every person is responsible for his or her conduct,’ Emin Hajiyev said in conclusion.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis