(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Details added: first version posted on 15:28
BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. Chairman of the
Caucasian Muslims Office Allahshukur Pashazade sent a letter on
peaceful protests [of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations]
on Azerbaijan's Lachin-Khankandi road against the eco-terror, being
committed by Armenia, to Pope Francis, the office told trend on December 22.
According to the letter, as a result of the 2020 second Karabakh
war, the people of Azerbaijan liberated their ancestral lands,
recognized by the international community, which were occupied by
neighboring Armenia for nearly 30 years.
The letter said that in accordance with a trilateral statement
signed [between Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following
the second Karabakh war], Russian peacekeepers were stationed for a
period of five years in the part of Azerbaijan's Karabakh inhabited
by Armenians.
“For us, it is obvious that your concern comes from the false,
and, as usual, biased appeal addressed to Your Holiness and to the
other Heads of Religious Centers and Churches by
Catholicos-Patriarch of Armenians Garegin II regarding the
so-called blocking of the humanitarian Lachin-Khankandi road
connecting the Armenian minority in Karabakh with Armenia,” the
letter noted.
“I would like to bring to your supreme attention that the
above-mentioned road has never been blocked by Azerbaijan. Those
who did this are the Russian peacekeepers, and the Azerbaijani
authorities have repeatedly officially declared that Azerbaijan has
not imposed any restrictions on the passing of vehicles on the
Lachin road, while the traffic regime along the road remains as
before. As for the organization of transition of citizens, goods,
and vehicles, it is the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping
forces,” the letter's author explained.
“However, aiming to defame Azerbaijan in the eyes of the World
Community and trying to portray it in inhumane character, the
Armenian side spreads insidious misinformation, conducts biased
propaganda against our country and makes false claims. We are very
sorry that the Armenian Apostolic Church under the influence of
Armenian politicians is particularly active in this issue,” the
letter pointed out.
The verity, according to the conducted investigations, is
illegal exploitation activities that are carried out in the
'Gizilbulag' gold field and the 'Damirli' copper-molybdenum field
of the Karabakh region where the peacekeepers are temporarily
deployed, the letter also said.
“Despite the prior agreement on the monitoring of this activity,
reached by independent activists through the peacekeepers, the
separatist regime did not let the eco-activists enter those
facilities,” the letter further noted.
Besides, according to the letter, the rally of the
representatives of the civil society, which is going on for more
than a week, under the slogans against the looting of natural
resources and serious damage to the environment, is a peaceful one
and doesn't create an obstacle to the Lachin-Khankandi road.
“The peaceful protestors demand an on-the-spot inspection of the
said fields, the cessation of illegal exploitation, monitoring and
inventorying in various directions, assessment of potential risks
to the environment and elimination of the consequences of damage,”
the letter's author noted.
Claims of the Armenian side, and the Etchmiadzin [the governing
body of the Armenian Apostolic Church] in particular, that the
peaceful protest rally of the eco-activists caused a humanitarian
crisis is completely false, as the humanitarian corridor is active,
the letter said.
Will be updated