Tokyo, 2 November, /AJMEDIA/
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s address to the participants of the international conference “Neocolonialism: Human Rights Violations and Injustice” held in Baku on October 20 has been distributed as an official document of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, the ministry told AJMEDIA.
The appeal noted as a gratifying fact the participation in the conference in Baku of participants from 14 countries representing different continents, as well as territories fighting for justice, their condemnation of the policy of colonialism, which is still taking place in the XXI century, and systematic and consistent work to eliminate this phenomenon.
Accepting the chairmanship of the country in the Non-Aligned Movement, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan stated that he would base his priorities and activities on the historical Bandung Principles, and it was noted that one of the issues discussed at the Bandung Conference was the fight against colonialism. It was brought to attention that, despite the fact that almost 70 years have passed since the Bandung Conference, one of the countries still supporting colonialism is France. The same France that occupied dozens of countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific region, and Latin America plundered their wealth, subjected their peoples to oppression for many years, and committed numerous war crimes against humanity in these territories. The French armed forces have subjected hundreds of thousands of civilians to genocide on the basis of their ethnic and religious affiliations.
It is emphasized that France is one of the countries in the world that has used the most mines, and it has laid more than five million mines on the territory of Algeria. As a result, Algeria, like Azerbaijan, occupies one of the first places in the world among the countries most affected by mine explosions. In addition, France is immediately followed by its close ally, Armenia. In just three years, about 340 Azerbaijanis have become victims of mines laid by Armenia in the former occupied territories of Azerbaijan. One of the reasons for such close ties between France and Armenia is the practice of mine terror used by them.
Despite the fact that centuries have passed, this thinking has not changed, giving rise to new shameful manifestations of French colonialism, and the population of overseas territories, whose representatives gathered at this conference, have been fighting for independence for many years. France, which does not renounce its traditional colonialism, ignores the aspirations and rights of people living in overseas communities and territories outside Europe, in the Pacific and Atlantic regions, and tries with all its might to prevent the realization of these aspirations.
The social situation in French Guiana is gradually deteriorating; nearly half of the population is on the edge of poverty, and the unemployment rate is rising annually. Its natural resources are plundered. Martinique and Guadeloupe are facing two significant disasters. The indigenous population is subjected to assimilation through clandestine and illegal settlement. The past use of the chlordecone pesticide poisoned natural ecosystems and the population, and the local residents are still experiencing its oncological ramifications. France refuses to recognize the sovereignty of the Union of the Comoros over the island of Mayotte. In its documents, the Non-Aligned Movement has consistently affirmed the unequivocal sovereignty of the Union of the Comoros over the Island of Mayotte.
Azerbaijan supports the people who fight colonialism and aim to free themselves. Participation in the Ministerial Meeting in Baku on July 6, 2023, in the framework of Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement, then at the UN General Assembly Headquarters in New York on September 22, and today again in Baku, at an event dedicated to the fight against colonialism, its consequences, and neocolonialism, which is of special relevance for mankind, is a vivid manifestation of Azerbaijan’s support for that cause as the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement.
“It is extremely important to bring the issue of fighting neocolonialism to the attention of the international community through all possible platforms. In that regard, the activity of the Fourth Committee (Political and Decolonization) of the UN General Assembly should be further revitalized,” said the ministry.