Separatists in the Armenian-populated territory of Karabakh (APTK) protested against legal actions of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources to stop the illegal extraction and export of minerals to Armenia.

“It is obvious that in so doing Azerbaijan is carrying out a provocation to interrupt the land connection between Armenia and Karabakh, the self-styled “nature protection committee” of the APTK said in a statement.

Metakse Hakobyan, a member of the self-styled APTK parliament, issued an anti-Yerevan statement accusing the Armenian authorities of betraying Karabakh Armenians (NEWS.am).

“The Azeris tried to test the reaction of the international community and the related risks. The ultimate goal is to show that they are the rightful owners of Karabakh and at any moment they can block a vital road. They have assessed the situation and will await the reaction of the international community and the Armenian authorities,” Hakobyan said.

The separatist regime’s self-appointed foreign ministry has appealed to foreign allies for help. The statement refers to “de-armenization”, “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”. Lars Patrick Berg, a German politician and member of the European Parliament, responded to the appeal. He told “Armenpress” that the European Parliament should force the Azerbaijani authorities “to accept international norms”; for this to happen, the EU needs to reject the gas deal with Azerbaijan. However, Berg did not say how the illegal extraction and export of natural resources from Azerbaijan complies with international norms.

Azerbaijani political analyst Ilgar Velizadeh commented on yesterday’s events at the Shusha-Dashalty crossroads in Karabakh on social media.

“The essence of Azerbaijan’s fair demands for the inspection of its mine is that according to Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the natural resources belong to the Republic of Azerbaijan without prejudice to the rights and interests of any individuals and legal entities, and any exploitation without state sanction is a crime. Thus, it is quite legitimate for official Baku to send specialists to investigate the illegal exploitation of mineral resources in the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan,” Velizadeh emphasized.

About the deposit, the subsoil of which is plundered by Armenians, it is known that this is a gold-copper deposit “Gyzylbulag” (“golden spring”) located 35 km away from former regional centre Agdere. Copper and silver can be extracted there along with gold. This deposit was discovered by scientists of the Institute of Geology of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan SSR in 1965.

Administratively the deposit is located on the territory of Kelbajar region, within the boundaries of East-Zangezur economic region. In considering that this part of the region is in the zone of temporary responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPC), the appropriate Azerbaijani executive authorities have so far been able to monitor the situation here with the assistance of the RPC,” the political scientist explained.

Recall that yesterday the only road between Karabakh and Armenia was temporarily blocked for three hours at the Shusha-Dashalty crossroads. The road has been unblocked following an agreement between Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and the RPC to prepare a road map for monitoring mining in Karabakh.

Source: Turan News Agency