BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 13. Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev informed heads of diplomatic missions about the current situation on the Shusha-Khankandi road on December 13, Trend reports.
Assistant of the President of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev, during the meeting with the diplomatic corps, noted that during the years of occupation Armenia destroyed cultural monuments on the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as illegally exploited natural resources, causing damage to the environment.
"Intensive illegal exploitation of the 'Gizilbulagh' deposit was detected. This issue was investigated by the relevant institutions of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Defense appealed to the command of the Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh. The first meeting with the leadership of the Russian peacekeepers took place in Khojaly. As a result, it was agreed to conduct monitoring at the 'Gizilbulagh' on December 10. This illegal activity must be stopped, environmental damage assessed, and an appropriate program developed," he said.
Representatives of Azerbaijan's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are protesting near Shusha, close to the post of Russian peacekeepers, who are temporarily stationed in the area. The rally is being held against the inadmissibility of Azerbaijani specialists to the territory, to monitor the illegal exploitation of deposits in the area.
Previously, following the negotiations 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 on December 10, was going to begin the preliminary monitoring in accordance with the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits, as well as the emerging environmental and other consequences of this on the territory of Azerbaijan.
It was planned to inspect the environmental conditions 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. 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 and prevented for the entire process to carry on.
