AZERBAIJANI JEALOUSY BASELESS

Panorama.am
21:05 22/08/2007

As a result of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejan’s visit to Baku,
Azeri news agencies are rejoicing that they relayed their concerns
to the Iranians about the construction of a power station on the
Arax River.

"A country subject to occupation shouldn’t have their territories
exploited by others," as stated by Azerbaijan. We remind that the issue
here is the proposed hydroelectric station on the banks of the Arax,
in the region of Jebrail.

According to foreign ministry press secretary Vladimir Karapetyan,
"Since the area in question is currently being controlled by the
defense forces of Karabakh, implementing such a program is out of
the question."

In reality, the issue is more complicated, and has an old history to
it. In Soviet times, the Soviet Union had a similar agreement with
Iran, and today the Iranians have already started work on their part
of the project.

But since the territory in question is controlled by Armenians, the
Azerbaijanis are concerned that Armenia might be the beneficiary of
the program.

The Armenian foreign ministry does not have much information about the
program. Karapetyan promised he would look into this. But one this is
certain. "If the program in Jebrail comes to reality, Armenia won’t
be a participant, and will obtain no gain from it."

Therefore, the Azerbaijani claims are baseless.