Pre-COP period marked by anti-Azerbaijani propaganda in media space, Hikmat Hajiyev says

During Azerbaijan's presidency at the COP29 climate conference, a centralized and systematic anti-Azerbaijan propaganda campaign was actively conducted in the media space, according to Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration.

According to Report, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of COP29, Hajiyev expressed regret that even leading Western media outlets participated in this smear campaign against Azerbaijan.

"The global climate crisis is a problem affecting the entire world. All attention should have been directed to this problem. Instead, media and some organizations associated with Western countries conducted anti-Azerbaijani propaganda," he said.

According to the presidential aide, neither Azerbaijan, as the host country, nor the COP29 participants agree with this position.

"We gathered here to find solutions to specific issues. Among them are assistance to developing countries suffering from the consequences of climate change, expectations from the new climate goal, and others. All this can accelerate the green transition. In addition, small island states and other developing countries have their own expectations from the upcoming negotiations. This is what we should have been discussing in the run-up to COP29. However, completely different information was circulated in the media. Despite all this, Azerbaijan, as a member of the UN Framework Convention, has fulfilled all its obligations and created a platform for discussing all important issues on the climate agenda," Hajiyev said.