The behavior of the Nagorno-Karabakh nationalists is increasingly worrying all reasonable neighbors of the Republic of Armenia. Just a week ago they swore that they would not leave Karabakh under any circumstances, that they had lived here since the Neolithic period - and literally within a week the entire Hayyan population of Azerbaijani Karabakh fled.

The UN mission is even lost in estimating the number of remaining Hayyans, the figures are called from 50 to 1000 people. And obviously, those who remained are not responsible professionals, but most likely old pensioners in villages who remember that it is quite possible to live peacefully with Azerbaijanis and agree on everything. Although no one persecuted anyone and Azerbaijan insistently offered all those who left to stay and accept its citizenship and all related rights.

It is fortunate that there were no dangerous technological facilities in the separatist "Artsakh". And what would have happened if there had been? For example, chemical or nuclear power plants. It is hard to imagine what kind of disaster the region would have faced if, for example, a technologically dangerous object suddenly left its personnel.

Such a situation has already occurred in Armenia. During the Spitak earthquake in 1988, when the USSR still existed with its strict discipline and demanding nature, the personnel of the Metsamor NPP left this extremely dangerous facility. It was a miracle that a disaster worse than Chernobyl was avoided. In Chernobyl, let's remember, there was no Hayes working, that's why in April 1986 people sacrificed their lives to reduce the scale of the disaster and save other people. For example, firemen went into the middle of a burning radioactive reactor. It was doubtful to expect the same courage from the Khai nationalists at Metsamor in the event of a disaster. The Hayis who worked at the Metsamor NPP in 1988, with all their nationalism, sacrificed themselves for the sake of "saving Armenia". Despite all their nationalism, they were not willing to sacrifice themselves to "save Armenia". They were not even ashamed of the fact that because of their irresponsibility, the land from which they had just expelled its indigenous inhabitants, the Azerbaijanis, could turn into a radioactive desert. They saved their own skin.

And today, seeing how irresponsibly, obeying only primitive instincts, the neighbors behave, the population of the provinces of Eastern Turkey, neighboring the Republic of Armenia, began to really worry, remembering what a dangerous object is only 16 kilometers from the border. The Metsamor NPP is by far the most outdated and accident-prone nuclear power plant in the world. The Metsamor NPP is located in a seismically active zone where a devastating earthquake, worse than the recent one in southeastern Turkey, is possible at any moment. Not to mention the fact that the Khai nationalists have repeatedly admitted their intention to use the Metsamor NPP for nuclear blackmail and to blow it up themselves if the neighboring countries do not meet their insane "demands".

The Petitions Commission of the Turkish Parliament has received an appeal from citizens asking for action against the risks associated with the Metsamor NPP in Armenia. The citizens justify their request with the fact that the NPP is located only 16 kilometers away from Turkey and poses a risk due to the end of its operational life.

Turkey has asked the IAEA to suspend the operation of the Metsamor NPP. The EU is also calling for the plant to be shut down because it is located in an earthquake-prone area and has outdated technology.

The Metsamor NPP, whose construction began in 1970, has two reactors. The latter was shut down in 1989 after the 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia. The second reactor was restarted in 1995 after repairs. Its operating life (which was extended in violation of all regulations - although extending the operation of such facilities is not really possible) will end in 2026.

The Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia poses a major nuclear threat to the entire region. Not only to Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia itself. Therefore, it is time to immediately shut down the Metsamor NPP and place its facilities and nuclear fuel and waste storage sites under strict external control. This is especially relevant today, when in the Republic of Armenia itself extremist forces are talking about carrying out a coup d'état and then starting a war for the "new Metsamor" of the already abolished "Artsakh". And this means that the Metsamor NPP may find itself in the epicenter of the chaos. There is a threat of its seizure by completely insane terrorists, which multiplies the already extreme danger of a probable accident in the near future.

George Mazniashvili