Tokyo, 27 February, /AJMEDIA/
The peaceful protest of Azerbaijanis on the Lachin-Khankendi road against the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh Economic Region continues, AJMEDIA reports from the scene.
The demands of the protesters remain unchanged. Currently, eco-activists and volunteers protesting on the Lachin-Khankendi road are chanting slogans such as “Stop eco-terror!”, “No ecocide!”.
The participant of the peaceful rally state that there are no obstacles to the free passage along the Lachin-Khankendi road. The road remains open for humanitarian purposes.
The peaceful protest on the Lachin-Khankendi road against the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan’s mineral resources in the area of Russian peacekeepers’ temporary deployment has been going on since December 12, 2022.
Previously, following the talks with the Russian peacekeepers’ command on December 3 and 7, 2022, a group of experts from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC were going to begin preliminary monitoring of the illicit mineral resource exploitation, as well as emerging environmental implications on Azerbaijani lands, where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, on December 10, 2022.
The expert team was expected to inspect the environmental condition at the ‘Gizilbulagh’ gold deposit and the ‘Damirli’ copper-molybdenum deposit, monitor various areas, organize cadastral property records, assess potential risks and threats to the environment, as well as to underground and surface water sources.
However, the expert group, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, faced provocations when arriving in the monitoring area. The planned initial inspection and monitoring did not take place due to the fact that the Russian peacekeepers not only did not create necessary conditions but also prevented for the entire process from carrying on.
