Azernews.Az

The Romanian embassy in Baku, in its capacity of NATO Contact Point embassy to Azerbaijan, organized a roundtable on “Jeyranchel Clearance Project: current situation and perspectives” on April 1.

At the event took part ambassadors, defense attaches and senior diplomats from embassies of NATO countries, officials from NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) and Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA).

Opening the event Romanian AmbassadorDaniel Cristian Ciobanu underlined that cooperation between North Atlantic Alliance and Azerbaijan is strongly developing. The NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund project for clearance of the unexploded ordnances and mines from the former Soviet Army test and training range at Jeyranchel is an example of very successful practical cooperation, he said.

Ambassador Ciobanu emphasized that Romania, which has been the second country in the world to recognize independence of Azerbaijan and established since 2009 a strategic partnership with Baku, supports the development of partnership relations between NATO and Azerbaijan. The embassy, which fulfills the mandate of NATO Contact Point Embassy for the fourth time in a row, actively promotes the benefits of NATO-Azerbaijan cooperation.

Mr. David Towndrow from NATO Support and Procurement Agency made an in-depth presentation of the Jeyranchel Clearance Project, which main purpose is to make the area safe for local farmers and to foster local authority development plans, principally for agriculture.

This project builds on previous clearance work done in Saloglu (2005-2011) and maintains a regional capacity in Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action. Phase I of the project (which started on 3 April 2012 and ended on 7th July 2014) cleared unexploded ordnances and mines from 19 square kilometers of the western section of the range. Phase II of the project (which started on 8th July 2014 and is expected to end in July 2016) is currently clearing 23 square kilometers of the central section of the range. USA is the lead nation for this NATO Partnership for Peace Trust Fund project.

Samir Poladov, Operations Manager at Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, gave details about the actions taken by the Azerbaijani side for the implementation of the Jeyranchel project.

Gvantsa Kvinikadze from NATO Support and Procurement Agency touched upon technical elements of the Jeyranchel Clearance Project.

Participants in the roundtable gave a positive assessment of the project and the activity of Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action.

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