Peaceful Azerbaijani protesters demand to stop illegal exploitation of country's resources - public union

By Trend

The Azerbaijani protesters demand to stop the illegal exploitation of the country's natural resources, said member of '?r?li' Public Union Ilkin Guluzade, who is currently in Shusha, taking part in the peaceful protests, Trend reports from the scene.

The protests of Azerbaijanis have been going on for the fifth straight day, close to the posts of Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed there. The Azerbaijanis demand to stop the illegal exploitation of the country's natural resources by Armenians.

"I've been here since the first days of the peaceful protest. We, the youth, say "no" to the illegal exploitation of our natural resources and demand the creation of conditions for Azerbaijani experts to monitor the area," he said.

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.