(MENAFN- AzerNews) By trend
While the peaceful protests of Azerbaijanis on the
Lachin-Khankendi road continue, Ruben Vardanyan, the so-called
'state minister' of the so-called 'Nagorno-Karabakh Republic', and
his subordinates keep spreading fake news.
Two days ago Vardanyan has announced that the illicit mining
activities in Karabakh have been suspended. At the same time, the
Armenians stated that they want to appeal to international
organizations in order to conduct an international environmental
assessment of these deposits and all processes there.
Armenians clearly pretend that they do not remember the demands
of the protesters that the monitoring should be carried out by
Azerbaijani representatives. That is, in fact, Vardanyan and his
gang continue to stall for time and escalate the situation.
Previously, following the talks with the Russian peacekeepers'
command on December 3 and 7, 2022, a group of experts from the
Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property
Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC were going
to begin preliminary monitoring of the illicit mineral resource
exploitation, as well as emerging environmental implications on
Azerbaijani lands, where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily
deployed, on December 10, 2022.
The expert team was expected to inspect the
environmental condition at the 'Gizilbulagh' gold deposit and the
'Damirli' copper-molybdenum deposit, monitor various areas,
organize cadastral property records, assess potential risks and
threats to the environment, as well as to underground and surface
water sources.
However, when arriving in the monitoring area, the
expert group, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, faced
provocations. The planned initial inspection and monitoring did not
take place due to the fact that the Russian peacekeepers not only
did not create necessary conditions but also prevented for the
entire process to carry on.
The observers from Baku were met by a group of local activists
who stated that they would not allow the monitoring to happen.
Negotiations on the spot did not bring results, and the trip to the
second field followed exactly the same scenario: however, this time
the Azerbaijanis who arrived were met not only by activists but
also by Vardanyan.
As the Azerbaijani media wrote later, Vardanyan offered the
ecologists who arrived from Baku to negotiate with him, but they
refused, referring to the already existing agreement on monitoring.
The trip was disrupted, and the Azerbaijanis returned to
Shusha.
The incident angered eco-activists in the country, which then
arrived in Shusha on December 12, and set up a tent camp at the
post of Russian peacekeepers on the Lachin-Khankendi road, on the
way out of the city. The protesters demanded that the Armenian side
fulfill its obligations and that the Russian peacekeepers ensure
the safety of the Azerbaijani delegation's trip to the mines. Since
then, 19 days have passed, and the Azerbaijani activists do not
even think to disperse.
When a couple of days later Khankendi realized that neither
Nikol Pashinyan's calls to Vladimir Putin nor his talks with
Western leaders had produced the desired result, it was decided to
move the confrontation with Azerbaijanis to the media field. Ruben
Vardanyan started regular live broadcasts on social networks on a
variety of platforms It was through Vardanyan that the
international community, should have learned the main thing:
Azerbaijan is allegedly blocking the Lachin road, carrying out a
blockade of Karabakh, which threatens the region, if not with
genocide (still too big a claim), then at least with a humanitarian
catastrophe.
Since then, several rallies have been held in Khankendi and
Yerevan, the participants of which spoke as one about readiness to
fight to the end, their 'unbreakable will' and blockade. A couple
of times they have even compared the so-called blockade with the
blockade of Leningrad by Nazi Germany, but this thesis was
withdrawn as quickly as it appeared - probably because the Armenian
side either realized that it was still too much, or because it was
not sure of a positive reaction to such a comparison in Russia.
Baku calls these allegations totally untrue. President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev even called them 'another anti-Azerbaijani
hysteria'.
'The developments on the Lachin road are clear as day. This is
our legitimate right. Our natural resources are being exploited and
our natural resources are being transported. Those exploiting our
natural resources are criminals according to any international
legal norm. This is our territory recognized by the international
community, and we have a legitimate demand for our public
representatives, first of all, representatives of state bodies, to
be able to conduct monitoring there. They should see what is going
on there and demand that all illegal activity be stopped. This is
our legitimate demand,' President Ilham Aliyev said on December 24,
thus, voicing the main demand of the protesters.
Meanwhile, contrary to the statements from the Armenian side,
convoys of Russian peacekeeping forces are moving freely along the
allegedly blocked Lachin road. The first footage of the cars
belonging to the peacekeepers moving from Karabakh to Armenia was
published on December 14, the second day of the protests. Since
then, these caravans have been operating on the Khankendi-Yerevan
route and back several times a day, including carrying humanitarian
aid for the Armenian population. In addition, there were at least
several cases (December 20, 24 and 25) when seriously ill patients,
including a one-year-old child, were taken from the area of
responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers to Armenia. On the way
back, the convoy brought medical supplies to Khankendi.
Azerbaijanis, who are stationed 24 hours a day at the post of
Russian peacekeepers on the Lachin road, say that they are ready to
let other civilians pass. In order to prevent this from happening,
Vardanyan called on the residents of Karabakh not to give in to the
words spoken by Azerbaijanis. 'Do not take it as a lie to say that
you can drive in cars. They must leave this road, and only we will
use it,' he resented.
Ordinary people have no way of checking whether the Azerbaijanis
will let them through. Only a few days ago, a group of Armenian
activists tried to march from Khankendi to the site of the
Azerbaijani action. The Russian contingent prepared in advance to
prevent the representatives of the two peoples to organize a clash,
but even before the peacekeepers, Karabakh activists were stopped
by their own police. The security forces blocked them in the
Renaissance Square in Khankendi, preventing them from leaving for
Shusha. As the police explained to the people who filmed them, they
could not guarantee the safety of the Armenian activists in case
they went where they were going.
Nevertheless, the situation around Lachin road remains truly
difficult. Yes, it is a little like a blockade, as much as the
Armenian side would like, but it is clear to all the participants
in this 'cold war' that sooner or later the end will come. In Baku
and Yerevan, they see this outcome in different ways: Azerbaijan
intends to continue to achieve its goal, feeling weak Armenians,
and Armenia will try with all its strength to delay the inevitable.
However, things are getting worse and worse for Yerevan.
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Tags: khankendi lachin russian peacekeepers azerbaijani peaceful protesters
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