Recent events show that the Russian peacekeeping contingent refuses to fulfill its duties properly, Ilgar Valizade, an Azerbaijani political scientist, told News.Az.

For the second straight day, environmental activists and representatives of non-governmental organizations from Azerbaijan have been holding protests near Shusha, close to the post of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, which is temporarily stationed in the area.

The number of protesters is growing. The protesters demand that temporary Russian peacekeepers prevent illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan’s natural resources in the region.

The political scientist noted that probably, without these protests, the situation would have remained at a dead end.

He stated that Azerbaijan has repeatedly asked for permission to monitor the exploited deposits in the territories where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed. "However, the Russian side has not yet properly reacted to Azerbaijan's appeals. We cannot agree with the last reaction from the Russian side. Our monitoring group arrived at the site, but no conditions were created for them to conduct monitoring," Valizade said.

The political scientist stressed that the peaceful protests by Azerbaijanis aim to solve this issue by peaceful means.

Valizade said the Russian peacekeepers should understand that they are temporarily stationed on the territory of Azerbaijan and the protesters are representatives of Azerbaijan and have legitimate demands.

"Recent events show that the Russian peacekeepers are already refusing to fulfill their duties properly. Collaborating with Armenian separatists, the Russian peacekeepers are covering up their illegal activities. In such a case, of course, the Azerbaijani side will raise the issue on various platforms and demand action regarding the peacekeepers. In any case, peacekeepers will continue their activities until 2025. But if they keep acting like this, I think that their activity can be terminated even before 2025,” the political scientist added.

News.Az