BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 12. Representatives
of Azerbaijan’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been
protesting near Shusha, close to the post of Russian peacekeepers,
since the morning of December 12, Trend reports.
The protesters demand the arrival of Commander of the Russian
peacekeeping contingent Andrei Volkov stating that they are not
going to leave anywhere.
The protest is being held against the inadmissibility of
Azerbaijani specialists to the territory, to monitor the illicit
exploitation of Azerbaijani deposits.
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, despite the group’s arrival, accompanied by Russian
peacekeepers, in the monitoring area, it faced provocations in both
directions. Thus, the planned initial inspection and monitoring
didn’t take place due to the fact that Russian peacekeepers not
only didn’t create the necessary conditions for this but also
participated in a deliberate violation of this process.
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