Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani MP Arzu Naghiyev has said that Armenia uses radioactive substances as a tool for threats, Trend has reported.

“As known, recently, one of the components of terrorism and extremism is the nuclear threat. In recent years, radical forces using these methods have threatened to carry out radiation contamination and start a nuclear war using nuclear warheads, other weapons of this type, and their components. The smuggling of radioactive substances in Armenia is carried out at the state level. But where can they get these substances from? I believe that their source is the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant (NPP),” the MP noted.

The MP said that for Armenia, aggression and terrorism have always been at the level of state policy and it uses extremism and radicalism to threaten other countries.

“This nuclear power plant is the most serious threat to Azerbaijan, the South Caucasus, and other countries of the region as a whole. It poses a direct threat to the security of the region. The EU has repeatedly raised the issue of liquidating this station at the expense of appropriate funds - it was about 3-4 billion euros. But the Armenians approached this issue from the point of view of bargaining, that is, they demanded more money,” Naghiyev stressed.

The MP noted that Armenia is unable to build a new nuclear power plant as its collapsed economy has no potential for a project worth $4-5 billion.

"They claim that they will allegedly restore the Metsamor NPP, and in this regard, they turn to the appropriate structures for financing. However, their main goal is to use radioactive waste as a tool for threats, carry out terrorist operations using radiation, create a threat to the regional security,” the MP said.

Naghiyev recalled that over the past three to four years, several cases of smuggling of radioactive substances by Armenia had been registered both on the border with Georgia and in other directions.

“This is the Armenian policy of terror and radicalism. They cannot get radioactive substances from somewhere else - this has definitely to do with the Metsamor NPP. The Armenian side itself has repeatedly admitted that the plant is outdated. The Armenian population living near this NPP has repeatedly held rallies, claiming radioactive leaks, facts of theft of radioactive substances by criminal groups,” Naghiyev added.

In late January, Azerbaijan's human rights commissioner urged all relevant international agencies to take serious steps for the immediate closure of Armenia's nuclear power plant which is a potential threat to the entire region.

Armenia’s three-decade occupation of Azerbaijani territories extensively damaged the ecosystem, wildlife and natural resources in and around the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenians also resorted to large-scale acts of ecological terror in regions they had to leave under the trilateral November peace deal that stipulated the return of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated for the second time in 2020 after Armenia's forces deployed in the occupied Azerbaijani lands targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, causing casualties among civilians and the military. In the early hours of September 27, Azerbaijan launched a counter-offensive operation that lasted six weeks. The operation resulted in the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied lands.

A Russia-brokered ceasefire deal that Azerbaijan and Armenia signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to the 44-day war between the two countries. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied.

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