Ramid Namazov responds to false accusations against Azerbaijan in The Economist

Azerbaijan is attracting more international scrutiny than ever before by hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ramid Namazov, an MP from the New Azerbaijan Party, said while responding to false accusations against Azerbaijan published by The Economist, Report informs.

Namazov noted that it is absurd to compare Azerbaijan's infrastructure renewal before such a enormous event to a "Potemkin village"

"Of course, every country that has ever hosted a COP summit has done precisely the same," he said.

"Our hosting of COP29 was not planned. It was the unexpected outcome of unprecedented bilateral peace talks with Armenia, which had previously publicly announced that it would veto our bid. This is why we are calling for a COP truce based on the Olympic truces. That may sound ambitious given what is going on in the world, but after our hosting of COP occurred through an agreement few ever thought possible it would be a mistake for us not to try," Namazov stressed.

"Readers of The Economist should also know that freedom of speech and expression will be encouraged, and on display in full at COP29. No agreement that is reached without its spirit can be worthy of its name."