“As a civil society, we protest against the illegal exploitation of gold and copper deposits in the territories of Azerbaijan under the temporary control of Russian peacekeepers,” Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Amin Mammadov, who is participating in the protest on the Shusha-Khankandi road, told Report.
The chairman of the council recalled that the employees of the relevant state bodies were not allowed to conduct monitoring in those areas:
“Unfortunately, the peacekeepers did not or couldn’t prevent the provocation according to their mission. As a result, monitoring was not possible. From here, I call on them to keep their promise of allowing to conduct monitoring.”
“The other side made such a claim that protesters blocked the road. The Azerbaijani side issued an official statement that the road was closed not by our side but by Russian peacekeepers. While humanitarian cargo and emergency medical vehicles can use the road, they do not. So all this is just a rumor,” Mammadov added.