Azernews.Az

The ongoing picket of Azerbaijani eco-activists and civil society representatives on the Shusha-Khankandi road against the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in Karabakh by separatist Armenians has come up with several new demands, Azernews reports.

They demanded the restoration of control of all state institutions of Azerbaijan, including the Interior Ministry, the State Border Service (SBS), and the State Customs Committee (SCC) on the sovereign lands of Azerbaijan, as well as setting up separate checkpoints.

In view of the fact that provisions of the November 10, 2020, tripartite statement were not fully implemented, the participants in the protest action also demanded that separate posts of the SBS and the SCC be set up in Lachin District on the border with Armenia.

Following the December 3 and 7, 2022 discussions between the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and a team of experts from the Economy Ministry, the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, the State Service for Real Estate Affairs under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold Company, an agreement was reached to conduct preliminary monitoring into the illicit exploitation of mineral deposits and the resulting ecological and other consequences in the territories of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed. However, due to the inactivity of the peacekeepers, the monitoring did not take place, and thus Azerbaijani eco-activists commenced a protest action in Karabakh to compel the Russian peacekeeping contingent to respect Azerbaijani laws and act in line with their mandate.

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