Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev reiterated his attacks against France on Wednesday, November 13, denouncing the country’s colonial history and the “crimes” of “President Macron’s regime” in its overseas territories, including New Caledonia, during a speech at COP29. “The lessons of France’s crimes in these so-called overseas territories would not be complete without mentioning the regime’s recent human rights violations,” said Ilham Aliyev, speaking to representatives of island states. at the UN conference on climate change, chaired this year by his country. “President Macron’s regime killed 13 people and injured 169 people […] during the legitimate protests of the Kanak people in New Caledonia”, he said, greatly applauded at the end of his speech by some of the representatives of the islands.
Azerbaijan, whose relations with France are very tense due to French support for its historic enemy Armenia, has been accused by Paris of interference during recent riots in New Caledonia, allegations rejected by Baku. “After all that, France has not been denounced, neither by the European Commission, nor by the European Parliament,” thundered the President of Azerbaijan.
“Colonial rule”
Ahead of the COP, NGOs and countries criticized the holding of the conference in Azerbaijan, denouncing its repression of the opposition and human rights abuses. Emmanuel Macron did not come to Baku for this COP.
Ilham Aliev also attacked the Council of Europe, a human rights organization of which Azerbaijan is a member but which he threatened to leave after being singled out for attacks on fundamental freedoms. “The European Parliament and the Council of Europe, these two institutions which have become symbols of political corruption, share responsibility with President Macron’s government for the murder of innocent people,” Ilham Aliev lambasted.
He then accused the head of European diplomacy Josep Borell of having compared Europe to a garden and the rest of the world to jungles (remarks from 2022). “If we are jungles, then get out of the way and don’t meddle in our affairs,” he concluded. President Aliev also denounced the maintenance “under colonial rule” of all French and Dutch overseas territories, also citing Corsica.
Tensions between France and Azerbaijan have been exacerbated since Baku regained control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave following a lightning offensive in September 2023, at the cost of the exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians.