President Aliyev: France supports Armenian separatism in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that France supports Armenian separatism in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

“France, which is falsely presenting herself as a defender of human rights and international law, still interferes into domestic affairs of other countries,” President Aliyev said as he addressed the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau entitled “NAM: United and steadfast in confronting emerging challenges” on July 5, in Baku, Azertag reports.

“The recent withdrawal of French troops from Mali and Burkina Faso once again demonstrated that outrageous neo-colonialism policy of France in Africa is doomed to failure. Unfortunately, France is trying to impose the same ill practice in the region of South Caucasus by supporting Armenian separatism in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and by means of geopolitical rivalry, foreign military presence and colonial policy of “Orientalism,” the head of state noted.

“One of the countries that still pursue neo-colonialism is France. French-administered territories outside Europe are nasty remains of the French colonial empire,” he stressed.

The head of state noted that France must respect the sovereignty of Comoros over the island of Mayotte as well as the rights of the New Caledonian people and other peoples in French overseas communities and territories.

“Nearly 1.5 million Algerians were killed during genocidal French rule. Sculls of Algerian freedom fighters still are kept in Paris museum as war trophies,” Aliyev said.

The head of state described it as cynical and disgusting, adding: “We demand President Emmanuel Macron of France to hand over to Algeria the remains of its heroes”.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that France has to apologize for its colonial past and bloody colonial crimes and acts of genocide against NAM member countries in Africa, South-East Asia and other places.

“The persistent and widespread racist and discriminatory discourse, especially in the media and on the Internet against certain ethnic minorities, racist hate speech by officials and members of two chambers of the parliament is on rise in France,” said President of Azerbaijan.

The head of state noted, “Apology in front of millions of people whom his predecessors colonized, used as the slaves, killed, tortured and humiliated will not be only recognition of historical guilt of France but also will help France to overcome the consequences of deep political, social and humanitarian crisis it is facing after brutal killing of Algerian teenager.”

“The recent killing of the 17-year-old teenager of Algerian origin by French police is yet another sign of racism and Islamophobia in this country,” said Aliyev.

The head of state pointed out: “In this regard, we echo UN statement deploring the police shooting and calling France “to seriously address the deep issues of racism and discrimination in law enforcement”.

“France even bans the Corsican language and does not accept the concept of ethnic minorities and at the same time tries to present itself as a defender of the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan. This is nothing but hypocrisy and double standards,” said the president.

“Instead of trying to lecture others, French authorities should combat such alarming tendencies in their own country,” the head of state underlined.

“30 years ago, Armenia occupied almost 20 % of internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan and perpetrated ethnic cleansing both in Armenia and in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” the president said.

“After the liberation of our territories, Azerbaijan is now facing a number of huge challenges. We were shocked by the scale of destruction in the formerly occupied territories. Azerbaijani cities and villages were deliberately destroyed, looted brick by brick, all cultural and religious sites, mosques were desecrated and plundered by Armenia,” the head of state emphasized.

“Armenia committed urbicide, culturicide and ecocide in the then-occupied territories,” Aliyev noted.

“65 mosques out of 67 in the formerly occupied territories were destroyed and remaining ones were used as stables for pigs and cows, which is an insult against all Muslims of the world. 60,000 hectares of forests have been destroyed, cut down and taken away, soil and rivers have been polluted and contaminated,” the head of state underlined.

“Armenia continues causing transboundary environmental disaster now with the involvement of a foreign company along the border with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.

“By doing so, Armenia violates its obligations stemming from the 1991 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention), which clearly stipulates that respected countries must consult each other to avoid an adverse transboundary impact,” the head of state emphasized.

“Azerbaijan is among the most ten heavily mine-infested countries in the world now. Some 300 Azerbaijanis have been killed or seriously injured in mine incidents since the end of the Patriotic War in November 2020,” the leader stressed.

“Each mine explosion in the liberated territories is a continuation of long list of war crimes committed by Armenia. The landmine problem is a violation of fundamental human rights of Azerbaijani people by Armenia,” the head of state added.

“Landmines slow down the reconstruction process and the return of former internally displaced persons to the liberated territories. With this in mind, Azerbaijan has set a particular national Sustainable Development Goal on humanitarian demining,” said the Azerbaijani president.

“Moreover, Azerbaijan supports humanitarian demining efforts globally and put forward a proposal of launching the 18th Sustainable Development Goal on demining. I am confident that NAM Member States will support my proposal to form a Like-Minded Group of Mine-Affected Countries to make our voice heard globally,” the President of Azerbaijan noted.

“Shortly after the end of the conflict, Azerbaijan presented five basic principles for signing a peace treaty with Armenia based on the mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Aliyev said.

“Although Armenia had to recognize Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, there are still remnants of Armenian armed forces in the territories of Azerbaijan where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed. If Armenia is really interested in achieving the long-awaited peace in the region, then its armed forces must completely leave the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Armenian military and para-military elements on the ground should be disarmed and demobilized,” the head of state emphasized.

“Armenia also impedes the opening of Zangazur corridor. The Zangazur corridor is another commitment of Armenia deriving from the capitulation act it signed on 10 November 2020 and therefore, should be implemented,” he said.

The head of state extended his deep gratitude to Non-Aligned Movement countries for their principled stance in supporting the just position of Azerbaijan during and after the end of the occupation.

“I especially refer two specific cases in 2020 and 2022, when NAM countries prevented one-sided and biased anti-Azerbaijani statements from passing in the UN Security Council,” President Ilham Aliyev added.

“Azerbaijan is very much concerned by the rising tendency towards neo-colonialism,” said Aliyev.

The head of state pointed out that the NAM, which was created as a result of the decolonization process, should vigorously combat this shameful legacy of the past and contribute to its full elimination.

“The NAM Azerbaijani chairmanship vigorously protected justice and international law and the legitimate interests of Member States in line with the 'Bandung principles'”, Aliyev said.

“When the international community was confused over how to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, it was NAM that consolidated global efforts in countering this unprecedented challenge,” the head of state noted.

President Ilham Aliyev touched upon the priorities of the Azerbaijani Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) chairmanship at the Ministerial Meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau.

“Supporting countries in need was another priority for Azerbaijani chairmanship. Azerbaijan provided COVID-19-related financial and humanitarian support to more than 80 countries, most of those from NAM either bilaterally or through World Health Organization. Azerbaijan made voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization in the amount of 10 million USD. We also provided vaccines to 5 countries,” the head of state pointed out.

The Azerbaijani leader recalled that he had also declared two Global Calls to support the post-pandemic recovery of Africa and Small Island Developing States.

“Azerbaijan, as the first donor, allocated 1 million US dollars for both Calls,” the president added.

“The institutional development of the Non-Aligned Movement, namely, the establishment of the NAM Parliamentary Network and NAM Youth Organization in 2021 and 2022 respectively is another achievement of the Azerbaijani chairmanship,” said Aliyev.

“Currently we are also working on the establishment of the NAM women platform. With these steps towards institutional sustainability, we will definitely leave a successful legacy to incoming chairs,” the head of state added.

“As a true defender of multilateralism and the second largest international institution after the UN, NAM has to find its own place in the newly reshaping world order,” the Azerbaijani president noted.

“We need to stand firm around Bandung principles, make our voice louder against cases of violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity and intervention in the internal affairs of states. Our movement’s more visible presence in the world affairs is vital,” the head of state noted.

“Promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue should be high on our agenda,” said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordinating Bureau in Baku.

“We are concerned by rising Islamophobia and xenophobia as well as attempts to equate Islam with violence and terror. Burning and desecration of the Holy Quran in Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden and justifying it under the guise of the freedom of expression is totally irresponsible and inadmissible and must be condemned,” the president noted.

“The most significant and memorable moment for the Azerbaijani people during our chairmanship was the historic victory in the Patriotic War. In 2020 Azerbaijan defeated Armenia on the battlefield and put an end to 30 years of Armenian occupation,” the president said.

“Armenia as occupying country was obliged to sign the capitulation act. Thus, Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and historical justice and itself enforced four UN Security Council resolutions of 1993. This victory of Azerbaijan is the triumph of international law and justice,” the head of state added.