Today, on November 17, 2018, SAM kicked off its next largest international conference on "Illegal Activities in the Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan and Responsibilities of Third Parties". The high-level conference solemnly organised by the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM) was the fruitful platform for intensive discussion of the themes on illegal activities conducted with the strong commitment of Armenia and illicit exploitation of mining resources in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan etc. through the professional vision of distinguished local and international experts. Welcoming the guest, SAM’s director Farhad Mammadov stated that the Armenia’s illegal activities turned the occupied territories of Azerbaijan into the hub of drug trafficking and even terrorism. F. Mammadov informed the participants that Armenia having violated the stability of the neighboring countries with the illegal actions in the Azerbaijani territories, is also threatening the regional peace. Hikmet Hajiyev, the Deputy Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration the Republic of Azerbaijan shed light on the illegal economic activity in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the violation of the imperative norms of international law in these regions. Mr. Hajiyev has also pointed out that these territories have been transformed to the transitory gateway of illicit trafficking of goods due to Armenia’s unlawful actions. Later, the floor was given to Italian diplomat and the first chairman of the OSCE Minsk Conference, Mario Raffaelli. Mr. Raffaelli made an introductory brief about the Minsk Group’s activity after 25 years recalling that Azerbaijan became the reliable regional partner, with achieved rapid development after gaining its independence. The discussion-heavy conference was proceeded with the speeches delivered by the chairman of the Executive Board of "AzerGold" CJSC, Zakir Ibrahimov, the spokesperson of Azerbaijan MFA, Leyla Abdullayeva and the representative of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor General’s office, Vugar Nasibov on the topics related to the illegal exploitation of mining resources, the criminal proceedings with respect to lawless operations in Azerbaijan`s invaded lands and using of thi̇s kind of activities as means for prolonging the conflict and maintaining status quo.Additionally, it has been also noted by the speakers that the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan implements necessary investigative actions against multiple companies providing illegal audit services to legal entities operating in the occupied territories. The highly-respected attendees of the conference achieved an opportunity to become acquainted with satellite images and maps of the range of illegal activities, including land degradation, unlawful agricultural activities, as well construction of buildings by Armenia with the speech conducted by the Chairman of Azercosmos OJSCo, Rashad Nabiyev. During the conference, Mahir Humbatov, the Leading research fellow at the SAM's Economic Analysis Department, has delivered an informative brief about the book on "Threat to the World: Hydrological Crime and Ecological Genocide" which has been recently published by Center. Mr. Humbatov drew attention hydrological and ecological aspects of Armenia`s illegal actions as a part of its illicit activities. At the end of his speech, M. Humbatov pointed out that ecological threats committed by Armenia are against to the region and thus to the whole world, and all these findings were comprehensively described in the mentioned book. The conference came to an end with Q&A session and Farhad Mammadov’s final remarks.
