YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan is attempting to conceal the numerous facts about its poisoning of the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), NKR Presidential Spokesperson Davit Babayan on Friday told reporters in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan.

In his words, Azerbaijan has repeatedly tried to use chemicals against the people of Artsakh.

“This occurred in the Soviet era, too, when [incumbent Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s father] Heydar Aliyev came to power [in Azerbaijan],” noted Babayan. “They were poisoning the water resources of [the Artsakh capital city of] Stepanakert. And that is why Karabakh, which was in first place in the world in the level of longevity and in last place in the level of cancer illness in 1970, took first place in1989, in the level of illness.”

The NKR presidential spokesperson added that Azerbaijan had poisoned the Stepanakert water supply network in 1990, and as a result, one-third of the local population was deprived of water.

“When they [i.e. the Azerbaijanis] are speaking about the Armenian nuclear power plant wastes—of course it is not so—in Karvachar [in the NKR], we realize that this can serve as a basis that if, God forbid, they somehow were able to have an impact on that territory, they definitely will pollute the rivers; that is, they will subject all of Armenia to ‘genocide,’” Davit Babayan stated.