Policy

The Republic of Azerbaijan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has stated that it supports the goals of the treaty, including a comprehensive ban, but that it “cannot accede to the Ottawa Convention without settlement of the armed conflict, restoration of territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and having a threat of hostility resumption, even though Azerbaijan stopped planting of additional mines…Therefore adherence to the Ottawa Convention will be possible only after the final settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”[1]

Still, Azerbaijan has demonstrated support for the treaty. It has voted in favor of the annual UN General Assembly resolution promoting universalization of the treaty every year since 2005, including Resolution 73/61 in December 2018.[2] Azerbaijan submitted voluntary Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency reports in 2008 and 2009. While the reports have details about mine clearance, victim assistance, and mine risk education, they do not include any information on Azerbaijan’s stockpiled antipersonnel mines.

Azerbaijan did not attend the 2014 Mine Ban Treaty Review Conference in Maputo. However, it did attend the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, but it did not provide a statement.

Azerbaijan is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons. Azerbaijan is also not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and use

The disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh is contaminated by landmines, remnants from the Nagorno-Karabakh War fought from 1992–1994 between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has stated on several occasions that it does not produce or export antipersonnel mines.[3] Azerbaijan’s landmine stockpile is a legacy of the Soviet era, but the types and quantities in the stockpile are not known.

Officials have stated that Azerbaijan has not used antipersonnel mines since the end of open conflict with Armenia in 1994. They have also said that while Azerbaijan does not intend to use antipersonnel mines in the future, it does not rule out the possibility.[4] Azerbaijan apparently has not taken any specific legal measures to prohibit production, trade, or use of antipersonnel mines.