Nuclear tests that were carried out by France in Algeria caused enormous damage to nature, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on the sidelines of the COP29.
Aliyev added that the same problem relates to French Polynesia.
"Nature of French Polynesia has been seriously degraded as a result of numerous nuclear tests by France. France is to blame for soil pollution and damage to the islands. And if you take into account the 17 nuclear tests carried out by France in Algeria during the occupation, you can imagine the amount of damage caused to the ecosystem of our planet," the president said.
Between 1960 and 1966, France conducted nuclear tests in Algeria. As a result of these tests, hundreds of thousands of people living near the sites suffered from radiation-induced cancer and birth defects, according to local human rights groups.