“Azerbaijan is already going to be a great host. This is the real opportunity for Azerbaijan to use its time as the chair of COP29 in order to help the whole world understand the truth about Azerbaijan and establish a truthful narrative about what kind of a country Azerbaijan is with its ethnic, religious diversity and tolerance,” said former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, Board Member of the Jamestown Foundation Matthew Bryza.
He hailed the fact that the country is on the verge of reaching a peace agreement with its neighbour Armenia. “That makes it a really important moment in history for Azerbaijan,” he added.
“After last September's operation, Azerbaijan fully re-established its entire territorial integrity, sovereignty over all of its lands. It had said it would conduct that operation in a way that would avoid any civilian casualties. And it did. It said it would only target military objectives, and it did. And it eliminated a separatist regime that was trying to stoke conflict and maybe restart a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Bryza noted.
“And I congratulate Azerbaijan now as it's on top of the world stage, leading or co-leading the effort to prevent the global temperature from increasing above 1.5 degrees and fighting climate change as the chair of COP29. I think it’s the most optimistic, Independence Day ever, as Azerbaijan also most importantly, rebuilds its recovered lands and facilitates the great return of all the former residents of the seven surrounding regions of Karabakh and Karabakh itself to their former homes. So congratulations,” concluded the international expert.
Ayten Abbasly,
AZERTAC special correspondent
