Int'l organizations, UNESCO should help everyone, not provide selective assistance - Bulgarian blogger

By Trend

The members of international community should not focus its attention only on certain countries, they are obliged to help everyone who is facing a mine problem, including Azerbaijan, Bulgarian travel blogger Anna Pelova said in an interview with Trend.

Pelova arrived in Azerbaijan as part of a group of foreign travelers, who are visiting Azerbaijan's liberated territories.

"Azerbaijan pleasantly surprised me. This is the 79th country I have visited. For me, this is a very interesting tour. These places are filled with history, some of which is heartbreaking, but there are also some very positive moments," Pelova said.

"People have done a lot of restoration work here. As we see, mosques, houses are being restored, hotels are being built. I am sure that this region has great potential for tourism. The first tourists here will be tourists like us who love extreme sports. We are not interested in flying to Spain, Portugal, France. We love places that can tell a good story that leaves an emotional mark on us. Because in the end we won't be indifferent," she explained.

"In addition, Azerbaijan has very beautiful nature, good-natured and friendly people. When the Azerbaijanis complete the restoration work, there will be opportunity to attract a huge number of not only tourists, but also representatives of international organizations, the press, which will help spread the facts that Azerbaijan is a magnificent and safe country," the traveler said.

Speaking about Armenian vandalism the mine problem, Pelova stressed that the world should not tolerate this.

"I am glad that Azerbaijan managed to liberate its lands. Now there will be no vandalism here, because you really think about this land. We all live on the same planet and must prevent any manifestation of acts of destruction and vandalism in order to maintain long-term peace," she noted.

The blogger called on international organizations and UNESCO not to engage in selective assistance, but to provide support to all countries, including Azerbaijan.

"Mines are a huge problem all over the world. Mine clearance is very costly and time consuming for countries. It is important to understand that people returning to these parts will be in danger. An adult is well aware of how dangerous mines are, but try to explain this to a child who, for example, wants to run around the field. Sooner or later he will step on it. And it happens all over the world," she said.

"The international community should not focus its attention only on certain countries, they are obliged to help everyone who is faced with a mine problem. Need to provide financial assistance and allocate human resources for demining", Pelova said.

The traveler stressed that with the coronavirus pandemic, it became obvious that, if desired, humanity can rally around one problem to solve it, because assistance was provided to literally every country where it was needed, and not selectively.

On October 8, the trip of famous travelers from more than 20 countries to Karabakh and East Zangezur began. The team leader is Charles Veley, the founder of the American MTP (Most Traveled People) club, which is one of the 4 largest travel clubs in the world.