Foreign media reps visit venue of ongoing protests of eco-activists in Karabakh

Canadian journalist Dave Gordon and Georgian blogger Tamuna (Tako) Mumladze traveled to Karabakh - the scene of the open-ended peaceful protests of Azerbaijani eco-activists on the Lachin-Khankandi road under Shusha, Azernews reports.

During the trip, the media representatives were briefed about the reasons for the open-ended protest of the Azerbaijani eco-activists on the Lachin road.

To recap, the ongoing picketing on the Lachin-Khankandi road against the illicit exploitation of Azerbaijan's mineral resources in the area of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment has been going on for over a month.

Following discussions with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent on December 3 and 7, 2022, Azerbaijani specialists from the Ministries of Economy, Ecology, and Natural Resources, the State Service for Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold Company were to conduct primary monitoring on illegal exploitation of mineral deposits on Azerbaijani territory. However, the monitoring failed due to the provocation of ethnic Armenians.

After the Russian peacekeepers' failure to provide the necessary conditions for the Azerbaijani agency representatives to carry out their duties in the area, a group of eco-activists, NGOs, and public representatives to the street in protest at the peacekeepers' repugnance to live up to their obligations in line with the November 10, 2020, peace deal to maintain peace and order in the region, and oust the Armenian troops from the region and prevent illegalities. However, time proved that the Russian peacekeepers are driven by the interests of Russia rather than the idea coming from the essence of the notion of peacekeeping as universally understood.