Turkish, Russian media highlight Azerbaijani president's speech at NAM meeting in Baku PHOTO

The Turkish media has extensively covered Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's address to the Ministerial Meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the theme "The Non-Aligned Movement: Joint and Resolute Response to Emerging Challenges".

The well-known Turkish media outlet Haber Global drew attention to the Azerbaijani president's views on France's colonial policies under the headline "Aliyev: France must apologise for its colonial past and genocide crimes", according to Report.

"France must apologise for its colonial past and genocidal crimes. Because of Armenia's activities, Azerbaijan is one of the most mined countries in the world. France supports Armenian separatism in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. France should apologize for its colonial past and genocide crimes. The Netherlands has done so by apologizing for its colonial past and the practice of slavery, and we call on France to do the same. The murder of Algerian Nael is a new example of racism and discrimination in France. France should focus on the troubling problems of its own country instead of lecturing others. France is one of the countries that still maintain neo-colonialism," Ilham Aliyev said.

Furthermore, another news service, Haber.com, highlighted Ilham Aliyev's words: "If Armenia wants peace in the region, it must completely withdraw its armed forces from Karabakh.

"Although Armenia is forced to recognise Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, there are still remnants of the Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijani territory, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed. If Armenia is truly interested in achieving the long-awaited peace in the region, it must completely withdraw its armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Armenian military units should be disarmed and demobilised," Ilham Aliyev is quoted as saying on the website.

The portal also noted what Ilham Aliyev said about the Zangazur corridor in his speech: "Armenia also prevents the opening of the Zangazur corridor. The Zangazur corridor is another obligation that Armenia undertook with the surrender document signed on 10 November 2020, and therefore it must be fulfilled".

The newspaper Yeni Şafak with the headline "President Aliyev of Azerbaijan: the Netherlands has apologised for slavery. We call on France to take the same step" gave enough space to Ilham Aliyev's speech: "We support the French government, as reflected in the basic documents of the Non-Aligned Movement, the people of New Caledonia and we call for respect for the rights of other peoples in the overseas communities and territories of France. The territories that France controls outside Europe are terrible remnants of the French colonial empire. We also call on France to apologise and take responsibility for its colonial past, bloody colonial crimes and acts of genocide against non-aligned countries in Africa, South East Asia and other regions".

In addition, the Russian media has also extensively covered President Ilham Aliyev's address to the NAM Coordinating Bureau’s Ministerial Meeting entitled "The Non-Aligned Movement: a joint and resolute response to the emerging challenges".

The Russian newspaper Kommersant stressed that the Azerbaijani leader accused France of supporting Armenian separatism, while at the same time saying that racist tendencies and pressure on national minorities are increasing in France.

The article by Kommersant reflects the following remarks made by the president of Azerbaijan during his speech: "Unfortunately, France is trying to impose the same vicious practice in the South Caucasus region, supporting Armenian separatism in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and using geopolitical rivalries, foreign military presence and colonialist orientalist policies.”

The News.ru edition touched upon the statement of the President of Azerbaijan on the disarmament of the Armenian military units in Karabakh and gave space to the speech of the head of state reminding Armenia of compliance with the tripartite declaration signed in 2020:

“Although Armenia was forced to recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, there are still remnants of the Armenian armed forces. If Armenia is really interested in achieving the long-awaited peace in the region, then its armed forces should completely leave the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The Armenian military and paramilitary formations on the ground must be disarmed.”

Interfax also noted the head of state's views on the need for radical reforms at the United Nations:

"At present, international organisations, particularly the UN, are not living up to humanity's expectations. It is inevitable that the UN must undergo serious reforms. The UN Security Council is a relic of the past and does not reflect current reality. We are in favour of enlarging the Security Council to make it more representative and geographically equitable".

President Ilham Aliyev is reported to have proposed representation of the countries chairing the Non-Aligned Movement in the UN Security Council.

Lenta.ru, Moskovsky Komsomolets, TASS, Voennoye Obozreniye, Novye Izvestiya, Regioni Rossii, Vestnik Kavkaza, Mir TV and several other media outlets also referred to President Ilham Aliyev's views on UN reforms, criticism of France's neocolonial policy and Armenia's ignoring the trilateral declaration expressed during his speech at the meeting.

The Ministerial Meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau will continue at the Baku Congress Centre on July 6.

The meeting will consider the adoption of the Final Documents, including the Baku Declaration, as well as numerous additional measures related to the Movement's agenda.

Azerbaijan has played an important role in NAM’s history, which includes 120 member states, 18 observer states and 10 international organisations.