COP29 (Image credit: AP)

Azerbaijan‘the doors are still open’ COP29 The presidency’s chief negotiator said on Thursday, following the resignation of France’s ecology minister. UN climate summit On the President’s ‘unacceptable’ words Ilham Aliyev.
In his speech to the COP on Wednesday, Aliyev attacked Paris for alleged colonial “crimes” and “human rights violations” in its overseas territories, particularly the troubled Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia.
French Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher described these statements as a “deplorable situation” and said that she canceled her Baku trip.
Azerbaijani leader was using “counter struggle” climate change “for a shameful personal agenda,” he added, as relations between the two countries were already frosty.
But Yalcin Rafiyev, the COP29 presidency’s chief negotiator, insisted on Thursday that Azerbaijan was promoting an “inclusive process”.
“We opened our doors to everyone who came to have very constructive, productive discussions. Our doors are still open,” he added.
Despite withdrawing, Pannier-Runacher said the team of French negotiators in Baku would not give up efforts to strike a deal “to protect the planet and its people from climate change.”
Relations between Paris and Baku have been strained due to France’s long-standing support for Azerbaijan’s arch-rival Armenia.
Azerbaijan defeated Armenia in a blitzkrieg last year, retaking the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region, leading to the exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians.