"France should apologize for its colonial past and acts of genocide" - Ilham Aliyev

Baku/05.07.23/Turan: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called on the Non-Aligned Movement to resolutely fight against neocolonialism.

Azerbaijan is very concerned about the growing trend towards neocolonialism, in particular, Aliyev said, speaking at the ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Baku today on the theme "The Non-Aligned Movement: United and Unwavering in Confronting Emerging Challenges."

The head of state pointed out that "the Non-Aligned Movement, which arose as a result of the decolonization process, should resolutely fight this shameful legacy of the past and contribute to its complete eradication."

According to him, "one of the countries that still continues the policy of neocolonialism is France." "The territories controlled by France outside Europe are disgusting remnants of the French colonial empire," Aliyev stressed.

Aliyev believes that "France should apologize for its colonial past and acts of genocide."

According to him, "almost 1.5 million Algerians were killed during the genocide under French rule." "The skulls of Algerian freedom fighters are still kept in the Paris museum as war trophies," Aliyev further noted.

"We demand that French President Emmanuel Macron hand over the remains of heroes to Algeria," the Azerbaijani President continued.

He believes that France should also apologize for "acts of genocide against the Non-Aligned Movement member states in Africa, Southeast Asia and other places."

Expressing his concern about the growth of Islamophobia and xenophobia in the world, as well as attempts to equate Islam with violence and terror, the President of Azerbaijan condemned the burning of the Koran in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the justification of this under the guise of freedom of speech.

At the same time, Aliyev, recalling the recent murder by the French police of a 17-year-old teenager of Algerian origin, called this case "another sign of racism and Islamophobia in this country."

France, falsely positioning itself as a defender of human rights and international law, continues to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, Aliyev further noted.

To his thinking, France is trying to impose such a vicious practice in the South Caucasus, supporting Armenian separatism in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

As Aliyev noted, France, trying to "present itself as a defender of the Armenian minority in Azerbaijan," at the same time "prohibits the Corsican language and does not accept the concept of ethnic minorities."

"This is nothing but hypocrisy and double standards," Aliyev said.

When it comes to the settlement of the conflict with Armenia, Aliyev noted that after the end of the war in 2020, Azerbaijan "presented five basic principles for signing a peace treaty with Armenia based on mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"Although Armenia was forced to recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, there are still remnants of the Armenian armed forces on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed," the head of state noted as saying that 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. Armenian military and paramilitary (illegal) formations on the ground should be disarmed and demobilized.”

Aliyev also accused Armenia of obstructing the opening of the Zangezur corridor, in violation of its obligations arising from the Trilateral Statement signed on November 10, 2020. -06B-