(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Sabina Mammadli read more For four days in a row now, since December 12, Azerbaijani
eco-activists and representatives of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) have been protesting near Shusha against the failure of the
Russian peacekeepers in the region to provide unimpeded access of
Azerbaijani experts to monitor the illicit exploitation of the
country's mineral resources.
The pickets on the Khankandi-Shusha section of the road are
urging the Russian peacekeepers to prevent the separatists and
their foreign patrons from brazenly plundering Azerbaijani mineral
resources. The current situation in the area is a direct result of
the Azerbaijani public dissatisfaction with illegal economic
activities, theft of natural resources, and environmental damage to
the territory of Azerbaijan.
What has led to the current state of events is growing public
discontent over a plethora of issues, such as the misuse of the
Lachin road; the shady business ties of Ruben Vardanyan, the
so-called“first minister” of the regional separatists with Maj-Gen
Volkov, the commander of the Russian contingent.
More specifically, 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 local Armenians.
In an exclusive interview with Azernews, former US
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza spoke about the current
protests near Shusha, as well as the role of the Russian
peacekeeping contingent.
First of all, in principle, of course, Azerbaijani ecological
experts and any other citizens of Azerbaijan should be free to
visit any of the territories of Azerbaijan they wish.
Unfortunately, as we know, throughout the years of conflict and
occupation, this has not been practically possible under many
circumstances, especially for security reasons. I don't know the
exact location of the mining sites and natural resources sites that
the Azerbaijani NGOs wish to visit. But I could understand that
peacekeepers, including the Russian ones, whose mission is after
all to keep the peace, may think it is premature at this point for
that sort of a visit because it might inflame emotions and lead to
a breakdown of the peace. But having said that, as I said, of
course, from a legal perspective, those Azerbaijani NGOs have every
right to visit those parts of Azerbaijani territory. It is just a
question of practicality, I suppose, with the peacekeepers thinking
they need to avoid the peace breaking down.
In a long run, it is not a good situation to have Russian
peacekeepers on the ground in Azerbaijan. However, to this point,
they've played a relatively constructive role, much more
constructive than the role they have played in Georgia and Moldova
where they have made conflicts worse rather than keeping the
peace.
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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @sabinammdl
Follow us on Twitter @azernewsaz
Tags: karabakh matthew bryza protests russian peacekeepers