Western Azerbaijan Community

“The latest statements of the French President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs show once again that official Paris continues its hostile attitude towards Azerbaijan at all levels and on all platforms. It appears that France, which employs police force to suppress protests against racial discrimination and has faced tarnished global reputation due to these events, as well as repeated defeats resulting in removal from several countries on the African continent, seeks solace by taking actions against Azerbaijan,” the Western Azerbaijan Community said in a statement.

“We would like to remind the French Minister of Foreign Affairs that the term "immorality" accurately characterizes the actions of France. These actions of France include perpetrating genocide in Algeria, exterminating numerous tribes, keeping the skulls of Algerian freedom fighters in a museum in Paris as military trophies, maintaining colonial occupation of territories thousands of kilometers away, conducting nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific that cause harm to people and the environment, and imposing a ban on the Corsican language.

The unfounded accusation by the French Foreign Minister against Azerbaijan, alleging an intention of "ethnic cleansing," is yet another reflection of this immoral policy upheld by France. This is the same France that turned a blind eye to Armenia's wrongdoings, which include brutally expelling all Azerbaijanis from its territory during 1987-1991, occupying Azerbaijani territories from 1991 to 1994, forcibly displacing approximately 800 thousand Azerbaijanis from those areas, obliterating over 900 cities and villages of Azerbaijan, causing the deaths of more than 20 thousand Azerbaijanis, and committing massacres of Azerbaijanis in places like Garadagli, Khojaly, Malibayli, Meshali, and Aghdaban.

It has become evident to the world that France is not interested in establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. To that end, France obstructs the reintegration of Armenians who live in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

France must bring an end to its Islamophobic and Azerbaijan-phobic policies, both of which run contrary to principles of morality and international law. Furthermore, France should refrain from approaching issues with religious bias.

The Western Azerbaijani Community will not allow France, whose history is full of genocides, colonialism and injustices, to abuse the noble values such as human rights in order to cover up the nefarious nature of its policy. The Community will continue to tear off France’s mask to expose its policy of double standards,” the Community added.