Your report is correct to emphasise the importance of Cop29 in Azerbaijan for global efforts on climate action. It is also true that Azerbaijan’s Cop presidency has offered a Cop truce initiative, akin to the Olympic truce, to cease hostilities in conflicts around the world for the duration of the conference (Azerbaijan accused of hypocrisy after calling for Cop29 global truce, 17 September).
Azerbaijan’s conflict with our neighbour Armenia lasted the better part of three decades. So the significance of Armenia moving to support Azerbaijan’s ultimately successful bid to host Cop29 must not be understated. The peace that had eluded our nations for 30 years is at last in reach. So no – it is not “hypocrisy” nor “cynical PR” that for Cop29 we are calling for a global truce. Nor, as seems to be suggested by activists quoted in the article, does Azerbaijan having a standing military make it so. By that logic, all peace-making should be abandoned and the UN security council dissolved.
Moreover, the well-rehearsed allegation that Azerbaijan “ethnically cleansed” lands illegally occupied for decades by Armenia has been debunked – including at a UN security council meeting called by Armenia. Nor has the status of those lands ever been “disputed” – the UN and every country in the world, including Armenia’s current leadership, recognise them as Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory.
Peace in our fractious region was unthinkable for decades. That our region, as a direct result of peace negotiations, can now host Cop29 should give hope to the world even in these times of heightened geopolitical tensions.
Elin Suleymanov
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the UK
