The civil society of Azerbaijan organized an uninterrupted protest action of eco-activists on the Lachin road, because they did not want to endure the looting of Azerbaijani natural resources in Karabakh, Riad Dadashev, a volunteer of the Regional Development Public Association (RİİB), participating in the environmental action from the very beginning, said in an interview with the Vestnik Kavkaza correspondent, Daria Melekhova.
Yesterday, Daria Melekhova, as part of an international media delegation, visited Shusha and the Lachin road, where she spoke with participants in the protest action of eco-activists.
"I have been here since December 12, when the action began. Despite the cold, despite any weather conditions, we are here day and night protesting against the illegal exploitation of our Demirli and Gyzylbulag fields in the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan," Riad Dadashev said.
"Our motives are quite clear. After all, if we remain silent and do not say anything now, we will allow the illegal exploitation of these deposits and the infliction of irreparable damage to the ecology of our country to continue. Only when Azerbaijan liberated these lands from occupation, we were able to see what the scale of crimes was, including environmental ones, perpetrated by the invaders for three decades. And so we realized that we cannot allow this to continue, otherwise what shall we say our children tomorrow?” he stressed.
“We will live on these lands, this is our territory. I realized that if I don’t do anything now, then tomorrow, when my child asks me, “Dad, what did you do to prevent this?”, I will be ashamed. Thus, I easily decided to participate in the action, I can confidently say that I will stand here in any weather to express my position as a citizen of Azerbaijan," the RİİB volunteer said.
The eco-activist drew attention to the fact that he is supported by both his family and the people of Azerbaijan in general. "My parents fully support me. Sometimes, when we talk by video, they even say that they would also like to participate in the protest along with the youth standing here. This is patriotism that is inherent in all citizens of Azerbaijan," Riad Dadashev concluded.
