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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev addresses Nuclear Security Summit

25 March 2014 17:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. The third Nuclear Security Summit has entered its second day in The Hague. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the plenary meeting of the Summit, APA reports.

The second day of the Summit was dedicated to the importance of national and international events on nuclear security. Further enhancement of the cooperation in this sphere was underlined. The world leaders highlighted the long-term and effective international cooperation for preventing nuclear terrorism, noted the existence of threat of nuclear terrorism and importance of continuing measures towards the prevention of this threat.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the plenary meeting of the Summit. The Azerbaijani President praised the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in ensuring nuclear security in the world and highlighted Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the IAEA, saying his country also supported the efforts made by the United Nations under the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and has recently presented to the UN the report on the measures taken to prevent the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery. Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan held debates on international terrorism, including nuclear terrorism during its chairmanship of the UN Security Council in 2012.

Touching upon the additional measures to ensure nuclear and radioactive security, the President stressed that Azerbaijan had made great efforts to prevent the use of its territory as a transit route for illegal trafficking of nuclear material and formed a comprehensive control system over national export in accordance with international standards by closely cooperating with international partners.

The Head of State said that the first Maritime Security Strategy recently adopted by Azerbaijan regards the spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, as well as their corresponding materials as one of the biggest threats to the maritime security.

President Ilham Aliyev noted with regret that due to the occupation of 20 percent of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia and ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis, our country can not control properly the certain part of its borders. Such a situation leads to transnational organized crimes, illegal trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials, and burying radioactive waste materials Armenia contaminates the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Speaking about the threat posed by the nuclear power plant built by Armenia 40 years ago, Azerbaijani President said it is a source of serious threat to the entire region and neighbors. The consequences of any accident there will be tragic. But instead of eliminating the international concern and closing the plant, Armenia has decided to continue operating the nuclear power plant by 2026, though it is located in an active seismic zone and based on very dangerous technology.

Noting that Azerbaijan is playing a very positive role in the security and stability in the region, Ilham Aliyev said Baku is committed to continuing its cooperation with appropriate international organizations and partners towards strengthening nuclear security both in the region and the entire world.

At the end of his speech, Azerbaijani President expressed his confidence that all challenges will be solved and a safer world will be built with the continuous efforts of the international community.

The plenary meeting continued with an informal gathering which focused on the future of the Nuclear Security Summit.

On the sidelines of the event, President Ilham Aliyev met Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, British Premier David Cameron and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The Azerbaijani President also had a meeting with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, and they discussed prospects for future relations between the two countries.

The Summit culminated with the adoption of the final Communiqué.