Azerbaijan accuses France of pursuing neocolonial policy

MOSCOW (AA): Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has accused France of being one of the countries which continue their neocolonial policies.

Speaking at a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Baku, Aliyev urged French President Emmanuel Macron to apologize to the countries affected by French colonialism.

“Apologies to the millions of people whom his (Emmanuel Macron’s) predecessors colonized, used as slaves, killed, tortured and humiliated.

“It will not only be recognition of France’s historical guilt, but will also help it overcome the consequences of the deep political, social and humanitarian crisis in which it found itself after the brutal murder of an Algerian teenager,” he said.

Aliyev also said racist and discriminatory rhetoric was common in France, including in the media.

Nahel M., a 17-year-old Muslim boy of Algerian descent, was shot at point-blank range by a police officer last week in the Paris suburb of Nanterre during a traffic check.

Protests have swept France since the fatal shooting.

The officer faces a formal investigation for voluntary homicide and has been placed in preliminary detention.