BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 21. Peaceful protests on the Khankandi-Lachin road will continue until the illicit exploitation of Azerbaijan's natural resources stops, Head of the Environmental Education and Monitoring Public Union Gamza Yusubova, participating in the rally near Shusha, close to the area of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment, told a Trend correspondent at the scene on December 21.
"Each protester is worried that the international community is not fully aware of things happening here at the moment. We're holding peaceful protests, and the Lachin road is open for humanitarian aid. We will not go anywhere till the illegal mineral resource exploitation and environmental terrorism stop. As you can see, more and more people join us, we firmly stand for our positions and will achieve our goal," she said.
Representatives of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been protesting near Shusha, close to the Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment area. The protest is being held against the inadmissibility of Azerbaijani specialists to the territory, to monitor the illicit exploitation of the country's mineral resources.
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, when arriving in the monitoring area, the expert group, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, 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.