Araz News: On 16 November 2015, Prof. Dr. Klaus Buchner MEP (Greens/EFA), the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and the Southern Azerbaijan Alliance will convene a conference entitled ‘Lake Urmia – Humanitarian and Environmental Disaster in Iran’ at the European Parliament in Brussels. Examining the potentially devastating and far-reaching consequences of the crisis surrounding Lake Urmia, this conference aims to not only raise awareness among European policy makers on the problem, but also discuss what role the EU could play in reversing the looming environmental catastrophe.

Once one of the world’s largest hyper saline lakes, Lake Urmia is a UNESCO-registered bio-reserve which has suffered rapid shrinkage of 90% of its water volume by 2015. Despite the fact that millions are already suffering due to the continuing mismanagement of the lake by the Iranian Government, the looming catastrophe stands to devastate the lives of populations in the wider region and impose forced demographic change in an already politically volatile and vulnerable province.

Environmental issues in Iran tending to be inherently political and arguably intertwined with human rights abuses, the predicament of Lake Urmia is naturally highly politicized. The lake has been at the center of wider geopolitical concerns, particularly when taking into account that its salt is highly rich in uranium. Moreover, in light of Tehran’s systematic persecution of minorities, it is widely believed that the authorities have been wilfully ineffective and passive in allocating funds for rescue and revival projects for the region, majorly inhabited by Azerbaijani Turks.

Against the backdrop of the recently achieved nuclear deal with Iran this conference seeks to create a platform for open discussion on one of the most timely, yet unknown, environmental and geopolitical crises at stake.

Monday 16 November 2015

15:00 – 17:30

Room ASP 5E1

European Parliament, Brussels

Register here by 9 November

For media enquiries please contact

Johanna Green

+32 251 31459 • j.green@unpo.org