Ilham Aliyev: France's overseas territories suffer from colonial exploitation policy

The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) is accused of interfering in Francechr("39")s internal affairs when speaking about colonial exploitation and inequality policies by the Azerbaijani government, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening ceremony of the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum, entitled "The Mission of the Media in Promoting Peace: Restoring Truth and Rebuilding Trust," Olaylar informs.

"When I first came to Strasbourg as the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I used to hear that human rights cannot be the internal affairs of any country. We learned our lesson back then. Today, when the BIG speaks about colonial exploitation and inequality policies, the Azerbaijani government is already accused of interfering in Francechr("39")s internal affairs. We believe that human rights are a universal issue. The BIG is a non-governmental organization and is perhaps one of the most effective NGOs today that has put this issue on the global agenda."

The head of state added that for many years, Francechr("39")s overseas territories have been suffering from the colonial exploitation policy. Nuclear tests are even conducted there:

"In Polynesia, perhaps more than 200 nuclear tests have been conducted. If we look today, we will see that hundreds of people have suffered from this. Today, the BIG is accused of some kind of hybrid warfare. I think this is an important mission of independent media. For many years, journalists who wanted to voice the problems in New Caledonia and Polynesia have been subjected to persecution; they have been victims of blackmail. I was even informed that those people were detained even in Switzerland for participating in international events organized by the Baku Initiative Group. Some have been subjected to investigation. Look how a country that talks about human rights behaves, how it acts. So the boomerang is a very effective tool."

Ilham Aliyev emphasized that those who attacked Azerbaijan did not properly assess its capabilities:

"Of course, this is a broader issue than the activities of the Baku Initiative Group. The role of the media here is very important. The media must find the courage to fight against this colonial policy. This is not about our relations with France.

Francechr("39")s position regarding our sovereignty affected our relations. Even the recognition of the chr("39")Nagorno-Karabakh Republicchr("39") and the existence of an embassy of the already non-existent chr("39")Nagorno-Karabakh Republicchr("39") there. So this is not limited to our relations. This is about international rules of conduct. In the 21st century, you cannot have a colony, a settlement located tens of thousands of kilometers away from your country. People reject this.

If there were more organizations like the BIG in the world, a kind of coalition of NGOs could be established. They could voice their position more loudly. It is not just New Caledonia, but in Europe itself - Corsica is located in the center of Europe - people want to choose their own way of life. They want to preserve their identities, their languages. They do not want to invade France. They want to live with dignity on the lands of their ancestors. They do not want to be subjected to external influence and domination. We also lived as a colony in the 19th century. We were not independent. We were part of the USSR. We also have colonialism in our historical memory. We had no rights.

We can now compare being independent to being a colony. You can look at Azerbaijan in the 20th century. And if you compare it with todaychr("39")s Azerbaijan, you will see it is a difference between night and day. Billions of tons of our oil were exploited. When the Soviet Union collapsed, we had no gas and no electricity. Now we are spending billions to clean up polluted areas around Baku. This is the result of the deeds of those who carried away our wealth. And for 30 years, we have been independent. Today, we are a middle power. When the Soviet Union collapsed, I remember many analysts were saying that the republics would not be able to survive without the center. But today, all the republics are surviving."