Zahid Oruj: ‘France earns $400-$500B annually from Africa as colonial tax’

A special line in the foreign policy of Azerbaijan in the last four years, the course of leading the modern anti-colonial movement, is commendable, Zahid Oruj, chairman of the Human Rights Committee of Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis (Parliament), said at a conference dedicated to "History, Modern Challenges, and the Expected Future" in the parliament.Report informs.

Oruj stated that the brilliant victory won in the 44-day Patriotic War failed the geopolitical monopoly and the status quo of defeat established in the last 200 years in the world, in the South Caucasus region, where we are located, including in Karabakh, which is historically a place of conflicts.

"France's policy of the past 30 years, which consists of colonialism, but which also drew its kings and rulers to the guillotine, has now come to the open stage, covered by various diplomatic and political curtains. As a continuation of the resolution of the French Senate on November 25, 2020, recognizing the so-called state in Karabakh, the political regime that no longer exists, the Senate's call for sanctions against Azerbaijan on November 15, 2022, was a hybrid war campaign against Azerbaijan," he said.

Oruj stressed that France's attempts to resettle in the South Caucasus through the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Court, the UN Court of Justice, the Lemkin Institute, international media, and other mechanisms are a plan to benefit from Armenia as a tool. And unfortunately, the historical city of Iravan (current Yerevan) of Azerbaijan was subjected to its colonial policy.

He believes that the fact that the legislative power of France is against Azerbaijan as a whole shows that the government and the opposition, led by Macron, are essentially one force, that they are not different, and that they are in an imperialist position.

"France alone earns about $400–$500 billion annually as colonial tax from 14 former colonial countries in Africa. These countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. They were forced to transfer 85% of their annual income to the Bank of France. They spend the remaining 15% on their internal needs. Then they borrow from the French Treasury. The Elysee immediately overthrows the protesting governments, so in the last 50 years there have been 67 coups in 26 African countries," Oruj added.