As reported, today a group of Azerbaijani journalists and NGO representatives are holding a ralley on the Shusha-Lachin road, where Russian peacekeepers have set up a post. They are protesting the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits in the territories under the control of Russian peacekeepers.
Regarding the issue, Umud Mirzayev, president of the International Eurasia Press Fund, said in his comments to Ednews that the protest by Azerbaijan's civil society organizations was an expected step.
"After the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was declared, the Russian peacekeeping groups settled in Karabakh, which is the territory of Azerbaijan. Their mission here was to ensure peace. However, the peacekeepers, on the contrary, began to create special conditions for the Armenian separatists. According to the agreement, the Armenian armed forces should be disarmed and withdrawn from Karabakh. On the contrary, they began to arm themselves by means of them. Day by day, they continue their dirty activities in the territories of independent Azerbaijan, which they started many years ago.
According to U. Mirzayev, the Russian army's assistance to Karabakh with construction materials and under the name of "peacekeeping humanitarian aid" is also suspicious.
"Also, the formation of the Russian community and the construction of churches in this direction were matters that did not belong to their functions. For example, the appearance of Ruben Vardanya in Karabakh is directly related to the fact that the peacekeeping forces are doing their work and activities correctly there. In general, what was Vardanyan or Vitaly Balasanyan doing in Azerbaijan? Or the issue of Iranian citizens crossing the border into our country. All of these are illegal.
Against this background, the natural resources of Azerbaijan in the region are vandalized, squandered and taken out of the country. Even today, the criminal gang continues its activities that they have been engaged in for 30 years.
Today, a large delegation of civil society organizations is on the Shusha-Lachin road. They closed the corridor of Lachin. I believe that this is not only their objection, but also the non-existent civil society institutions. We are all in solidarity with them. This issue had to be resolved sooner or later. Apparently, there is a need for such actions."
Finally, U. Mirzayev noted that the International Eurasia Press Fund fully supports the action!
"We demand that Russian peacekeepers leave Azerbaijan!"
By Oghuz Ayvaz
Translated by Elnur Enveroglu
