Azerbaijan has ordered the BBC to shut its office in the country, officials in Baku said Thursday, in what the British broadcaster denounced as a “move against press freedom.”

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has long faced accusations of stifling the media and persecuting political opponents in the energy-rich Caucasus nation.

Foreign ministry spokesman Ayahan Hajizade said Baku had told the BBC there was no “legal grounds” for it to operate a representative office in Azerbaijan, saying that Baku operated on the basis of “reciprocity.”

He did not elaborate further on the reasons for the forced closure.

In a statement, the BBC said: “Following verbal instructions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, the BBC has made the reluctant decision to close its office in the country.”

“We deeply regret this restrictive move against press freedom, which will hinder our ability to report to and from Azerbaijan for our audiences inside and outside the country.”

BBC’s Azeri language service has an audience of around one million people a week and had been operating in the country since 1994.

Azerbaijan’s Hajizade accused the BBC of trying to “politicise” the issue and of “double standards.”

He said that the closure of the local office does not affect the accreditation rights for one BBC correspondent.

Azerbaijan is one of the worst places in the world for media freedom, according to the Reporters Without Borders rights group.

“Virtually the entire media sector is under official control,” and “authorities are trying to suppress the last of the still-independent media, as well as journalists who reject self-censorship,” it says on its website.

Baku said “similar decisions” had been taken regarding “other foreign media organisations,” without providing further details.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

BAKU:

India has rejected the new  USD 300 billion climate finance deal for the Global South, which has been agreed upon and adopted at the United Nations COP29 Summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. India raised the objection after the financial package had been adopted, saying that it was too little and too late.

Chandni Raina, the representative of the Indian delegation, expressed her disappointment over the outcome and said, “We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities.”

Department of Economic Affairs adviser, Raise, while addressing the closing plenary session of the summit, said that the delegation was not allowed to speak before the adoption of the deal. 

“I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document,” she said. 

“USD 300 billion does not address the needs and priorities of developing countries. It is incompatible with the principle of CBDR (Common but Differentiated Responsibilities) and equity, regardless of the battle with the impact of climate change,” Raina added.

The Indian negotiator added, “We are very unhappy, disappointed with the process, and object to the adoption of this agenda.”

Supporting India, Nigeria said the USD 300 billion climate finance package was a “joke”. Malawi and Bolivia also lent support to India.

About The Deal

The agreement would provide USD 300 billion annually by 2035, boosting rich countries’ previous commitment to provide USD 100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020. That earlier goal was met two years late, in 2022, and expires in 2025. The deal also lays the groundwork for next year’s climate summit, to be held in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, where countries are meant to map out the next decade of climate action.

The summit cut to the heart of the debate over the financial responsibility of industrialized countries – whose historic use of fossil fuels has caused the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions – to compensate others for worsening damage from climate change.

It also laid bare divisions between wealthy governments constrained by tight domestic budgets and developing nations reeling from the costs of storms, floods and droughts. 

Negotiations had been due to finish on Friday but ran into overtime as representatives from nearly 200 countries struggled to reach consensus. Talks were interrupted on Saturday as some developing countries and island nations walked away in frustration.

United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell acknowledged the difficult negotiations that led to the agreement but hailed the outcome as an insurance policy for humanity against global warming.

“It has been a difficult journey, but we’ve delivered a deal…This deal will keep the clean energy boom growing and protect billions of lives,” Stiell said.

“But like any insurance policy – it only works – if the premiums are paid in full, and on time.”

Deep in the Caspian Sea, around 100 kilometres off the coast of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, lies Neft Daslari, the world’s oldest offshore oil platform. Also known as “Oil Rocks”, this vast, rusting city has been shrouded in mystery for decades.

“The degree of mystery was enormously high,” filmmaker Marc Wolfensberger, who first discovered Neft Daslari in the late 1990s, told CNN. “It was beyond anything I had seen before.”

Constructed in the late 1940s during the Soviet era, Neft Daslari began as a lone drilling rig on a tiny island and has since grown into an extensive network of oil wells, production sites, and over 100 miles of bridges. At its peak, this floating city housed more than 5,000 inhabitants and produced millions of tonnes of oil. Today, fewer than 3,000 workers remain, working 15-day rotations amid an environment slowly being reclaimed by the sea.

Neft Daslari has long faced environmental issues, with concerns over pollution and oil spills in the Caspian. Mirvari Gahramanli, head of the Oil-Workers Rights Protection Organisation, has raised alarm over untreated wastewater and reports of oil discharge. 

SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company, pledged to take action, saying in a 2019 post that it would “take appropriate administrative measures on employees who pollute the environment.” Still, environmental advocates remain worried about the platform’s long-term impact.

As production dwindles, so does Neft Daslari’s significance in Azerbaijan’s oil industry, with output now down to under 3,000 tonnes per day. With COP29 around the corner, where global leaders will discuss climate initiatives, Neft Daslari is an obvious symbol of the fossil fuel industry’s environmental costs.

Mr Wolfensberger believes the city could have a future beyond oil. “It’s really the cradle of offshore oil exploration,” he said. Many, including energy experts, see potential in converting Neft Dasları into a tourist destination or even a museum, honouring its legacy. For now, however, the rusting platform continues its slow decline.