Azerbaijan’s president slams ‘dictator’ Macron

Ilham Aliyev has criticized France over its treatment of its dependencies and former colonies, as well as efforts to arm Baku’s regional rival, Armenia

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has described French President Emmanuel Macron as a “dictator” for clamping down on the rights of people living in France’s overseas territories and former colonies. He also criticized France for arming Azerbaijan’s regional rival, Armenia.

France has 12 overseas territories, which are home to a total of 2.6 million people.

In May, clashes erupted in the Pacific territory of New Caledonia after the French government proposed granting voting rights to new settlers. Indigenous Kanak people feared the measure would leave them in a permanent minority, putting independence hopes out of reach.

France deployed hundreds of riot police officers and troops to quell the unrest. Nine people were killed in the disturbances and the damage was estimated at more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

Then-French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stated at the time that “some of the Caledonian separatists made a deal with Azerbaijan.”

In an interview with Russian media outlets on Wednesday, Aliyev stated that Western powers, particularly France, often lecture other nations on justice but are reluctant to address their own flaws, including neocolonial policies. He specifically criticized the “ugly face of French colonialism,” in New Caledonia earlier this year.

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“They killed 13 people during the disturbances, wounded more than 100 [and] arrested over 1,000. And the leaders of the popular protest were transferred to France [and] are being held in prisons… This is Macron’s dictatorship,” Aliyev claimed.

The Azerbaijani leader then touched on the plight of the Corsican language on the eponymous island. He was apparently referring to a court ruling last March, which prohibited the local language from being used in the regional assembly.

“Is this democracy, human rights?” Aliyev inquired rhetorically.

Relations between France and Azerbaijan have soured since Baku retook the breakaway region of Karabakh by force in autumn 2023 – a move condemned by Paris. The territory’s predominantly ethnic-Armenian population largely fled after their self-proclaimed state fell.

Soon thereafter, then-French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced Paris’ plans to supply Yerevan with weapons and defense equipment.

In June of this year, Armenia and the US stated that they intended to upgrade their bilateral relations to the level of “strategic partnership,” with Washington pledging to help Yerevan in its “defense transformation.”

Commenting on these developments in the interview, Aliyev said that the “weaponry, which Macron’s government is supplying to Armenia, is offensive lethal weaponry that poses a practical threat to Azerbaijan.”

Aliyev added that Baku has “repeatedly made it clear to Armenia and its backers in the US Department of State that this must stop.” According to the Azerbaijani president, however, his country’s concerns have been ignored.