"Blockade" of Lachin-Khankendi road - myth Azerbaijani ambassador tells Financial Times

Hundreds of vehicles passing on the Lachin-Khankendi road show that there is no "blockade" by Azerbaijan, as the Armenian side presents it, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the UK Elin Suleymanov said in an article published in Financial Times.

In response to the authors of the FT article, Suleymanov noted that they "correctly highlight the negative impact of the Russian-Armenian oligarch Ruben Vardanyan on the situation in the territories of Azerbaijan under temporary deployment of Russian peacekeepers, and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalisation process", Trend reports.

However, as the ambassador noted, the authors are too quick to dismiss the well-founded concerns of Azerbaijani society about the very real destruction of the environment and the smuggling of landmines and weapons across the Lachin-Khankendi road from Armenia in violation of commitments officially made by the Armenian government.

"As a reminder, the movement for national liberation in Azerbaijan in 1988 began with a demand to protect the Tophana forest near Shusha, so the concern for Karabakh’s nature is neither new nor superficial," Suleymanov stressed.

"The FT article confirms that Karabakh is an internationally recognised part of Azerbaijan. Even Armenia very recently declared its recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty on the basis of international documents. What would be in the interest of both the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples is to move forward with a comprehensive agreement to ensure lasting peace in the Caucasus," the ambassador concluded.

Meanwhile, the protest action held by representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of Azerbaijan in Karabakh in the zone of temporary deployment of Russian peacekeepers has continued for forty-fourth day now.

It should be noted that following the talks with the command of the Russian peacekeepers held on December 3 and 7, 2022, a group of specialists from the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, State Service for Property Affairs under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan and "AzerGold" CJSC was going to start preliminary monitoring of the situation with illegal exploitation of mineral deposits and their environmental and other consequences in Azerbaijan on December 10. It was planned to inspect mineral deposits, in particular, Gizilbulag gold mine and Demirli copper-molybdenum deposit, to monitor in various directions, to organise cadastral registration of property, to assess potential damage and risks for the environment, underground and surface water sources. However, despite the arrival of the team in the monitoring area, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, it has encountered provocations in both directions.