Secret Biological Laboratories in Azerbaijan Pose Threat to Armenian Population: Ghazinyan

Member of the 'Armenia' faction, Arthur Ghazinyan, wrote on his Facebook page: 'Are biological weapons development activities being carried out in Azerbaijan? It is no secret that biological laboratories operate in Azerbaijan, funded by the Pentagon, as indicated a few days ago by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

However, few know that these laboratories are equipped with a level 3 biosecurity system, allowing them to work with pathogenic microorganisms that can cause dangerous and deadly viral diseases in humans.

Another serious issue is that Azerbaijan does not publicly confirm the existence of biolabs created with the funds of the U.S. Department of Defense and conceals their activities within the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense, operating in secrecy. It is also kept secret that, unlike similar centers in the former Soviet republics, the funding for the laboratories in Azerbaijan has been jointly provided, meaning that the Azerbaijani government has ownership rights over the research outcomes related to potential biological dirty weapons. This indicates that the Azerbaijani authorities likely have access to components for biological weapons or the capacity to develop them.

The fact that the laboratories operating within Azerbaijan have at least dual use is evidenced by the circumstances that the programme is being implemented and funded by the U.S. military department, is kept under wraps, is located under the Azerbaijani military jurisdiction, and does not confirm their existence at public and international levels.

If for the U.S. the security and military focus is on Azerbaijan's neighbors, Russia and Iran, then Armenia is the target in Azerbaijan's crosshairs. Azerbaijan, having access to biological dirty weapons, will not hesitate to use them against Armenia at the right moment.

Moreover, if we consider the fact that as a result of the treacherous 44-day war, a significant number of Armenia's water resource springs have come under Azerbaijani control, along with the presence of a new model of Turkish Bayraktars adapted for the dissemination of biological weapons, we can firmly assert that the secretly operating biological laboratories in Azerbaijan pose an existential threat to the population of Armenia.

In light of this, I urge the RA authorities to immediately raise this issue before the U.S. government, confirming the activities and characteristics of the level 3 biolabs created and currently funded in Azerbaijan by the U.S. military department. I demand an international independent investigation regarding Azerbaijan's violation of the provisions and requirements of the 1975 'Biological Weapons Convention'.

P.S. I will soon present specific evidence regarding the existence of biological laboratories in Azerbaijan, funded by the Pentagon.'