At first we thought it was a bad joke: how could COP29 take place in one of the most bloodthirsty dictatorships on the planet? However, it is in Azerbaijan that the event must take place from November 11 to 22. After ten months of total blockade preventing the entry of food and medicine, Azerbaijan carried out, in September 2023, the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Some 120,000 of them then fled towards the Republic of Armenia, in conditions of extreme deprivation. Azerbaijan’s military offensive, supported by Turkey, its long-time ally, has not stopped: its army currently occupies several kilometers of land even within the southern borders of Azerbaijan. ‘Armenia. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Azerbaijan accused of “torture and ill-treatment” of Armenian detainees Read later During this ethnic cleansing, political prisoners were taken hostage, for certain former leaders – including three presidents – of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It is worth remembering that this was a democracy, one of the few in the region. These leaders have since languished in Azerbaijani prisons, which are among the most inhumane in the world. In July, the Council of Europe accused Azerbaijan of “torture and ill-treatment” against them. He also denounced the repeated refusal of the authorities to cooperate with international authorities in the management of this file. Greenwashing Ethnic cleansing concerns the population, but also the culture. Azerbaijan has undertaken to methodically erase all traces of the Armenian presence in the region: religious heritage is destroyed and street names are changed, in what constituted one of the cradles of this culture. But Azerbaijan is not content with persecuting Armenians. Dictator Ilham Aliev martyrs his own civil society. In recent months, many activists, journalists and researchers have been imprisoned under the most spurious charges, including “betrayal of the state”. In addition to fighting this dictatorship, some had the courage to assert that Armenians and Azerbaijanis could one day coexist peacefully. As COP29 approaches, while the whole world will have its eyes on the country, no dissenting voice must be heard. The Azerbaijani regime pursues dissidents even on French territory, as illustrated by the assassination of Vidadi Isgandarli in Alsace at the beginning of October, without the political class of our country seeming to be moved. You have 55.7% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
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