SHUSHA, Azerbaijan: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev pledged on Saturday to help France’s overseas territories secure independence, the latest in a series of incidents pitting his ex-Soviet state against Paris over long-running conflicts in the Caucasus region.
Aliyev accuses France of interfering in its affairs over its contacts with Armenia, against which it has waged two wars in 30 years linked to disputes over Baku’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
In recent months, Azerbaijani leaders have focused on France’s South Pacific territory of New Caledonia, gripped by weeks of violence over the objections of Indigenous Kanak activists to a contentious electoral reform.
Aliyev made his latest comments at a media forum days before the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris and just after the staging in Baku of a congress bringing together pro-independence groups from New Caledonia and other French territories.
“We will support you until you are free,” Aliyev told the forum, citing French territories that he said were still subject to colonialism.
“Some countries are still suffering from this. The Comoros islands, Mayotte are still under colonial rule. It has been our duty to help these countries liberate themselves from this revolting remnant from the past.”
Earlier this week, an “initiative group” staged a congress in Baku attended by pro-independence groups from New Caledonia and other French territories, including Corsica and Caribbean and Pacific islands.
French media accounts of the meeting said participants sharply criticized French authorities and an Azerbaijani delegation was invited to visit New Caledonia.
France accused Azerbaijan in May of meddling and abetting unrest in New Caledonia by flooding social media with what it said were misleading photos and videos targeting French police.
Azerbaijan has denied the allegations.
Azerbaijani authorities accuse France of bias in favor of Armenia in efforts to achieve a peace treaty to end three decades of conflict and in signing defense contracts with authorities in Yerevan. Azerbaijan expelled two French diplomats last December.
Azerbaijan’s president pledges to help French territories secure independence
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Azerbaijan’s president pledges to help French territories secure independence
- Azerbaijani authorities accuse France of bias in favor of Armenia in efforts to achieve a peace treaty to end three decades of conflict
Three more UK pro-Palestinian activists end hunger strike
- The detainees are due to stand trial for alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before it was banned under anti-terrorism laws
LONDON: Three detained pro-Palestinian activists awaiting trial in the UK have ended their hunger strike after 73 days, a campaign group said.
The three began “refeeding” on Wednesday, Prisoners for Palestine said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The decision leaves just one person still on hunger strike who started six days ago, it confirmed to AFP. Four others called off their hunger strike earlier.
The detainees are due to stand trial for alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of the Palestine Action campaign group before it was banned under anti-terrorism laws.
They deny the charges.
The group, aged 20-31, launched their hunger strike in November in protest at their treatment and called for their release from prison on bail as they await trial.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said in parliament that all “rules and procedures” were being followed in their cases.
His government outlawed Palestine Action in July after activists, protesting the war in Gaza, broke into a UK air force base and caused an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage.
Some of those on hunger strike are charged in relation to that incident.
The inmates’ demands included that the government lift its Palestine Action ban and close an Israel-linked defense firm.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori challenged the ban last July, and High Court judges are expected to rule at a later date on whether to uphold the prohibition.
