Parties and political movements seeking independence for French overseas territories have formed a united “International Front for Liberation of Last French Colonies” after a two-day meeting in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, in which they vowed to join forces in fighting 'French colonialism.'
The parties hail from a host of territories controlled by France, including the Mediterranean island of Corsica and islands in the Caribbean, Melanesia and Polynesia. The new front also involves a party from the Pacific territory of New Caledonia, where riots broke out in May over an election reform pushed by Paris.
The unrest prompted Paris to launch a “major operation” in the archipelago, located to the east of Australia, some 17,000 kilometers from France.
On Thursday, the movements signed a declaration on founding the liberation front and a website for the project launched on the same day.
During the meeting, the newly formed front members “condemned France’s policy of racism and repressions” against the indigenous peoples of its overseas territories and set a goal of “harnessing the colonies’ efforts in the process of decolonization.”
The front was designed to become a “central platform” in the fight against what its members call French colonialism, according to the Azerbaijani media that covered the meeting.
The meeting was supported by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG) – an organization created last year with the stated goal of supporting “anti-colonialist movements” and backed by Azerbaijani authorities. Baku had already hosted the leaders of French Polynesia’s pro-independence party in May.
The two-day summit was promptly condemned by pro-Paris parties in New Caledonia, which accused the pro-independence figures from the territories of being “in league with a foreign power” and “undermining the fundamental interests of the French nation.”
Tensions between Paris and Baku have risen since Azerbaijan established full control over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian population of the area had long sought independence from Baku while enjoying support from neighboring Armenia. Since the 1990s, the territory had existed as a self-proclaimed Armenian-backed entity. Last September, Baku reasserted its sovereignty over the region through military action.
Since then Paris has developed closer ties with Armenia, prompting Baku to level accusations of bias against France.