SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, December 15. The Azerbaijanis, who have been holding peaceful protests on the Lachin road near Shusha [close to the post of Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan in accordance with a trilateral statement signed between Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], for the fourth day, changed their demands, Trend reports from the scene.
The activists taking part in the event have demanded to establish individual border and customs control posts on the border with Armenia in the Lachin direction.
They emphasized that checkpoints of all Azerbaijani state structures, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Border Service and the State Customs Committee, should be located on the sovereign lands of Azerbaijan.
"Transportation of weapons to the territory of Azerbaijan won’t be allowed," they noted.
These demands of the protesters are justified. During the Armenian occupation along the Lachin road, Armenia brought more than one million mines to the Azerbaijani territory. A mine that exploded on December 14 this year in Kalbajar, killing an Azerbaijani serviceman, was also transported along this road.
The Lachin road, where the peaceful protest rally is currently taking place, was actively used by Armenia to mine the territories of Azerbaijan.
The fact that at the end of November 2022 alone, terrorist groups from Iran were twice allowed to enter the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan in front of the Russian peacekeepers creates the need to establish posts of Azerbaijani state bodies throughout the territory where the peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
The peaceful protesters are ready to create conditions for the passage of the peaceful Armenian population. The civilians living in Karabakh are citizens of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan is ready to ensure their medical and other social needs.
The representatives of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations have been protesting against the inadmissibility of Azerbaijani specialists to the territory, to monitor the illegal exploitation of deposits in the area of stationing the peacekeepers.
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 but also prevented for the entire process to carry on.