Turkish lawmaker calls for closure of Armenian nuclear power plant

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) – Turkiye's Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmaker Yasar Karadag on Monday called for the closure of the Metsamor nuclear power plant in neighboring Armenia.

"The Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant should be immediately shut down in order not to experience the Chernobyl disaster, which caused the death of nearly 40 thousand people in 1986," Karadag, the lawmaker from eastern Igdir province, told reporters in parliament.

According to him, Metsamor was constructed with the old Russian technology.

Metsamor is the most dangerous of the 443 nuclear plants in the world, the lawmaker said.

"In a possible major earthquake, the radiation emitted by the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant will make our provinces of Igdir, Kars, Van, Agri, and Erzurum (south of the border) uninhabitable," he said.

Metsamor, first launched in 1976, is just 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Turkey's eastern border with Armenia and produces about 40% of the country's electricity.

Both Turkey and Azerbaijan have repeatedly raised objections to the project as they believe it does not meet international safety standards.

Metsamor continues to draw criticism from Turkish officials as Armenia has decided to extend its operations until 2026.