Azernews.Az

By Trend

Azerbaijani people have legitimate concerns about illegal exploitation of natural resources, Orkhan Amashov, deputy editor-in-chief, of Azernews newspaper, told Trend’s correspondent on December 13, as the protests of representatives of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations (NGOs) close to the post of the Russian peacekeeping contingent have been going on for the second straight day.

“What is really clear is that people have a legitimate concern and this legitimate concern is about the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan’s natural resources, copper, molybdenum, and gold resources. People have been here for more than 24 hours and they have seen one sleepless night. I am absolutely sure that they’re looking forward to a couple of more days. They will be here as long as it takes. They want to speak to General Volkov, who is not a very good communicator,” he said.

Amashov pointed out that the deep underlying factor is the incompetence of Russian peacekeeping forces because they have not been fulfilling their duties properly.

“Their mandate derives from November 10 declaration. Article 5 says that they need to exercise control over the ceasefire regime. That is what it says. But it doesn’t say that Russian peacekeeping forces are entitled to stop Azerbaijani citizens from entering that zone of their responsibility, which is also Azerbaijani territory, which is also a sovereign part of Azerbaijan. So, they are actually misbehaving. What is very clear to me, Azerbaijan is very determined. Lachin corridor is obviously misused. It is very clear that Azerbaijani resources were extricated from that part of Azerbaijan, which is currently under the control of a Russian peacekeeping contingent and was sent to Armenia through the Lachin corridor. There are very serious claims about the Iranian presence in the territory of control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. My expectation is that something very tangible, very serious is going to happen very soon indeed,” he added.

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 the entire process to carry on.

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