Free Gold: Armenia plunders occupied territories of Azerbaijan – PHOTOS

Azerbaijan has announced many times that natural resources in its occupied territories are being exploited by Armenia. Google Earth has clear evidence that Armenia is actively exploiting Azerbaijan’s Soyutlu gold deposit in the occupied Kalbajar region. Photographs taken from space show a large pit, trucks and other equipment which Armenia uses to illegally develop Azerbaijan’s field.
 
"Unfortunately, today Azerbaijan has no control over the ongoing processes in its Armenia-occupied territories. Therefore, the Armenian separatists, not limited to the barbaric destruction of settlements, historical monuments and other cultural property in occupied territories, also plunder natural resources of Azerbaijan. Implementing such activities by any company without permission of Azerbaijani authorities is illegal, and they will be punished for this sooner or later,” Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Elkhan Polukhov said commenting on the fact.

Kalbajar gold deposit is very rich and perspective. According to Azerbaijan Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, until 1990, 27.6 tons of gold were extracted from deposits of this region of the USSR with total of 19.3 tons accounting for the Azerbaijani side of the field. Back in 1997, Azerbaijan’s state-owned company Azergizil signed a contract on joint development of several fields in Azerbaijan, including Soyutlu with the U.S. R. V. Investment.
 
Shahbaddin Musayev, candidate of geological-mineralogical sciences, who has studied gold deposits of the Lesser Caucasus, spoke in detail about this field.

This gold deposit was discovered in 1951, and intensive work at the field began in 1974, the geologist said. About 75% of reserves of the deposit are located in the territory of Azerbaijan. But following discovery of deposits in 1952, Armenian surveyors deliberately began to move their border 200 meters into the territory of Azerbaijan in the maps and to draw the line on the field area so that to claim to the goldfield, Musayev added.

“In topographic maps issued prior to 1950, the border between the two Soviet republics passed along the watershed. Moreover, there are international rules on boundaries, including the interstate rules under which the borders should be divided along famous spots. It is watershed in this case.”

"The border between the two countries should run along the Miskaynak hill in the Zod area (Armenian side deliberately distorts the name Miskaynak into Vaskepor and renames the deposit into “Sot”).  Azerbaijani part of the field is several times larger and richer than that of Armenia," the expert noted.


/Day.Az/