Azerbaijani Environmental Activists Protest Russian Peace Keepers in Karabakh

He claims that there is a body of evidence suggesting that there is a joint business venture “of the chief of command of the Russian Peace Keeping Contingent and the so-called Armenian Forces, which have not left the area despite Article 4. So, there is a mercantile interest of the Russian side in perpetuating this exploitation of Azerbaijani natural resources, which makes Azerbaijanis very worried. They understand that the Russians do not accept responsibility and act with impunity, and also they are financially interested in the exploitation, as money is being funneled into their pockets.”

According to Amashov, “When you are carrying out the exploitation of natural resources and there is no proper control over what is happening, I would expect even under a normal situation the environmental situation would be worse. So naturally, when you have ecological terrorism and impunity in these areas, I suppose it will be worse.” 

In conclusion, Amashov declared that the protesters will stay in the area as long as it takes to meet their objectives: “It is pivotal that Azerbaijani state bodies be able to enter the zone of the Russian Peace Keeping Forces and conduct ecological monitoring of these resources.  Once Azerbaijani authorities can conduct proper monitoring, they will be able to make a proper evaluation. The main idea is to let Azerbaijanis do that because there was an agreement between the Russian Peace Keeping Forces and the Azerbaijanis that Azerbaijan would be able to carry out such monitoring, but the Armenian Forces foiled Azerbaijani attempts. That is part of the fury. They are furious because Azerbaijan cannot carry out ecological monitoring in its own sovereign territory. They want a breakthrough in that regard.”