From Azerbaijan to Oceania with Love

Already during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, the anti-French rhetoric in Azerbaijan was coupled with narratives of anti-colonial struggles. In response to France’s criticism of dehumanizing “Military Trophies Park” in Baku, President Aliyev mentioned that France keeps the skulls of 19^th-century Algerian resistant fighters in a museum, where skulls are displayed to visitors. The claim was debunked as manipulation with facts as the skulls have been kept in the basement of the Museum of Mankind.

In 2023, the Baku Initiative Group was established within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement to support the separatist claims against France, such as Comoro’s claims over the Mayotte and Kanak movements in New Caledonia. According to the organization’s Executive Director, Abbas Abbasov, the organization aims at “strengthening the voice of the peoples affected by colonialism”. Soon, Baku hosted an anti-colonial conference with a sole focus on France, which was accused of xenophobia and Islamophobia. Following the riots in New Caledonia, Azerbaijan proudly pursues this political shift.

On May 29, 2024, a delegation of the Parliament of French Polynesia arrived in Baku to establish “inter-parliamentary, economic, and humanitarian cooperation between Azerbaijan and French Polynesia, as well as cooperation in science, education, sports, health, and other spheres”. The meeting included a conference with an explicit name: “French Polynesia’s Right to Decolonization: Challenges and Prospects”. Mr. Abbasov stressed that the cooperation between the Baku Initiative Group and Polynesia’s Tāvini Huiraʻatira Party “will help strengthen our relations and support the country’s struggle for independence”. The concealed part of the cooperation is the fact that the Tāvini Huiraʻatira Party is the pro-independence opposition party in Polynesia, not the government.

It would be too bold to argue that Azerbaijan was directly involved in the riots in New Caledonia or to deny the issues and concerns related to the indigenous Kanak people. What is concerning is, however, Azerbaijan’s sole focus on France – and not, for instance, Britain’s colonial past. The latter remains Azerbaijan’s close economic partner, including in rebuilding and investment in Karabakh. This evidence proves the reactive nature of Azerbaijan’s anti-colonial identity – and instrumentalization of the struggles of indigenous peoples for authoritarian ends. The ultimate plan is not only to punish France for arming Armenia and raising the issue of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh but also to push France as much as possible from the South Caucasus.