Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4
By Orkhan Guluzade - Trend:
The talks that Armenia allegedly has a possibility to create a nuclear weapon are nothing but empty threats, says Ermagan Kuloglu, Turkish army's lieutenant general in retirement.
Armenia has no technologies and conditions to create a nuclear weapon, he said speaking to Trend May 4.
"By stating that it has a nuclear weapon, Yerevan tries to conceal its disgrace in the latest clashes on the line of contact between the armies of Azerbaijan and Armenia," added Kuloglu.
Earlier, Armenia's former prime minister, MP Hrant Bagratyan said during a press conference that Armenia has a nuclear weapon.
Asked by journalists to clarify his remarks, Bagratyan said Armenia has an opportunity to create a nuclear weapon.
"We have a nuclear weapon," he added.
Armenia has a nuclear power plant, Metsamor, built in 1970. The power plant was closed after a devastating earthquake in Spitak in 1988. But despite the international protests, the power plant's operation was resumed in 1995. Moreover, a second reactor was launched there.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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