In the lead-up to COP29, the Armenian lobby continues its “black PR” campaign against Azerbaijan. According to Armenpress, “ahead of the upcoming COP29 conference, which will be held in Baku in November, various human rights and environmental organizations are warning about environmental and legal issues, the lack of rule of law, and many other problems in Azerbaijan.” Furthermore, “on the eve of the conference, the European office of ARF ‘Dashnaktsutyun’ has initiated an effort to inform Members of the European Parliament, over eight hundred international organizations, universities, and academic circles participating in the conference about existing issues in Azerbaijan concerning human rights and the environment.”
It’s clear that they do not intend to “inform” about the ecocide committed by Armenian occupiers, nor about the plundering of natural resources, including gold ore, or the pollution of the Okhchuchay and Araz rivers by Armenian mining and metallurgical plants. When discussing “human rights,” they certainly won’t mention the genocide of Azerbaijanis.
One might reasonably ask these “Members of the European Parliament, over eight hundred international organizations, universities, and academic circles”—do they really consider Armenian lobbying structures and parties like ARF ‘Dashnaktsutyun’ to be reliable sources of information about Azerbaijan?
But the most notable aspect is something else. This foul “news” was circulated by Armenpress, an official news agency akin to Russia’s TASS or Azerbaijan’s AzerTAc. Such agencies do not publish “unauthorized” information. If this kind of slander is published, it means Armenia’s official structures are actively involved in the smear campaign against Azerbaijan, despite Pashinyan’s team trying hard to appear uninvolved. What’s more, after voting in favor of holding COP29 in Baku, Armenia is now pursuing a policy during the conference’s preparation that contradicts that vote.
In the end, we are once again reminded that any statements or assurances from Yerevan amount to nothing more than empty rhetoric.
