Azerbaijan ‘reconsiders its priorities’ with the UN

During a conversation with Gwi-Yeop Son, the UN’s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasised that Azerbaijan ‘has reconsidered its priorities in cooperation with the UN’ based on ‘the realities of the new era’.

Bayramov added during the meeting on Monday that future partnership with ‘some UN agencies’ — particularly the UN Habitat Programme, the UN Environment Programme, and the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — would be continued through a ‘project-based cooperation mechanism in accordance with national priorities’.

Previously, the pro-government media outlet Caliber reported on Sunday that the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), along with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had been told ‘they must leave’ Azerbaijan, citing the information available to their editorial team.

Similarly to the Caliber article, Bayramov highlighted that the socio-economic progress achieved by Azerbaijan in recent years has allowed the country to rely on its own internal resources and capabilities in regards to the implementation of social projects, negating the need to receive as much support from international organisations.

Bayramov also highlighted that Azerbaijan had transformed from a recipient country to a contributor, a change requiring a new form of cooperation.

In response, Son reportedly expressed satisfaction with Azerbaijan's organisation of COP29 and with the country’s implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

On Tuesday, the Azerbaijani state media outlet APA reported that Fahrettin Altun, Head of the Communications Department of the Turkish Presidential Administration, stated in a video address during a public forum in Baku that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also supports reforms within the UN.

‘Problems in the activities of the UN complicate the establishment of peace in the world’, Altun reportedly said.

UNDP, UNHCR, and ICRC ‘told to leave’ Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani government has consistently used state media to discredit civil society organisations prior to shutting them down.

OC MediaXandie (Alexandra) Kuenning