BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 30. Azerbaijan resolutely rejects groundless accusations that a peaceful protest of Azerbaijanis at the Lachin road is a "blockade", Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov said during the public hearing at the UN International Court of Justice, Trend reports.
"Tragically, Armenia has ceased upon the Lachin road protest to try to create political leverage in the ongoing peace negotiations between the two states, and, instead of trying to resolve issues, it encourages hatred and fear of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis," he said.
The deputy minister noted that Azerbaijan has not imposed any restrictions on the traffic along the Lachin road, not could it. According to the trilateral statement, the Lachin road is under control of the Russian peacekeepers.
"The protester have repeatedly said that they have no intention of blocking the road. Dozens of cars of the peacekeepers, ICRC travel along the road every day," Mammadov added.
Meanwhile, the peaceful protest of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations on the Lachin-Khankendi road against the illicit exploitation of Azerbaijan's mineral resources in the area of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment has been going on for fifty days.
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 but also prevented for the entire process to carry on.