Dozens of French politicians call for boycott of COP29, demand release of Armenian hostages

Around three dozen French politicians have urged the French government to boycott the upcoming COP29 UN climate summit in Baku and demanded the immediate release of Armenian hostages.

“We, the signatories of this petition, formally urge the government to support a strong and symbolic action to boycott COP29 scheduled to begin in Baku from November 11,” they said in a joint statement published in Le Figaro.

“Described as a disgrace by a number of elected representatives on all benches of Parliament, this conference must not serve to endorse Azerbaijan’s autocratic and corrupt regime or encourage its expansionist and destabilizing policies. Meanwhile, with this ecological event deadline approaching, the Azerbaijani authorities are steadily hardening their tone both on their critics and neighboring Armenia, which is facing increasing threats to its integrity,” the politicians said.

“This is evidenced by reports from Human Rights Watch and Freedom Now, which on October 8 denounced the authorities’ efforts to “decimate civil society”. This is also confirmed by the attitude of Ilham Aliev, who, after flouting one by one all the terms of the 9 November 2020 ceasefire agreement and perpetrating ethnic cleansing against Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, is constantly putting forward more demands for the signing of a peace agreement. Thus, the prestigious nature of the event yields the opposite of its intended result.

“Is it possible to talk seriously about ecology while remaining deaf to the appeals of all political prisoners arbitrarily detained and tortured (including philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan and 22 other Armenian hostages) just a few hundred meters away from the conference venue? The signatories of this appeal don’t think so. On the contrary, they urge the government to send a strong message to the Aliev regime by boycotting COP29 and taking the lead in an international campaign to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Armenian hostages, as well as to ensure the right to safe return of 120,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh in compliance with an ICJ order and in respect to the territorial integrity of Armenia over 200 km² of which remains under Azerbaijani occupation,” reads the statement.