Azerbaijani activists protest against COP29 to be held in Baku

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijani opposition activists are staging the campaign “Stop COP29” in an attempt to draw the international community's attention to human rights issues in Azerbaijan, Armenpress reports.

A protest was held in Germany ahead of the UN Climate Summit in Baku, according to an article by the Geghard Scientific-Analytical Foundation.

Azerbaijan will host the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) on November 11, 2024, with thousands of representatives from different countries participating. This annual event aims to find solutions to urgent climate issues.

The selection of Baku as the host country for the major climate event under the UN's auspices has sparked widespread criticism. Human rights organizations, international media outlets, and many political figures have expressed bewilderment about this decision.

The protesters question how such a summit can be be held in a country whose leadership has subjected Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to ethnic cleansing, persecutes opposition figures, shuts down media outlets, and restricts freedom of speech

They claim that in Azerbaijan, in addition to human rights issues, there are also serious environmental problems.

Protests regularly occur in the country against soil, air, and water pollution, but the authorities respond to these protests with violence.

Opposition activists living outside Azerbaijan, who have been subjected to political persecution, point out that there are numerous political prisoners in Azerbaijani prisons, the human rights situation is alarming, and freedom of speech and assembly are restricted.

The participants of the protest said they have appealed to the leaders and parliaments of the countries participating in COP29, as well as to the UN and the European Parliament, asking for their support in the release of the hundreds of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.