Armenia President in Seoul Criticizes Azerbaijan President’s ‘Obvious Misinformation’

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is disseminating misinformation regarding Armenia’s Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, taking place in Seoul Mar. 26–27, referring to statements that the plant presents a danger to the region.

“The Azerbaijani president’s obvious misinformation stated here about the Armenian nuclear power plant doesn’t surprise me because spreading lies about Armenia has long been the modus operandi in Azerbaijan. By the way, not only everything having to do with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, but also the international community documents adopted by us and you are presented in a distorted manner from the highest platforms. They distort even the well-known resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN Security Council, forgetting that they have begun military actions, that they have refused to terminate them, and that they are the ones who everyday make bellicose statements and refuse to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of international law,” the Armenian leader, as reported by the president’s office.

After Chernobyl and Fukushima, Sargsyan continued, many approach the future of nuclear energy with reservations. In some special cases, as in the case of Armenia, he said, there are few alternatives — to ensure stable development and improved standards of living for the population.

In Sargsyan’s opinion, it would be appropriate to consider energy, including nuclear, safety as a whole with other, related issues.

According to him, the fight against turning energy resources into malicious political capital is no less important. The consequences of this are felt strongly particularly by those countries that have fewer natural energy resources and are forced to find other ways to energy independence.

“Two of Armenia’s four immediate neighbors, violating the norms of international law, for two decades non stop have kept our country in a blockade — among numerous other issues, not leaving alternatives in the choice of paths to energy independence,” he said.