Lhe outcries from the French authorities, in recent months, about Azerbaijani interference in New Caledonia may have surprised and even led to questions about the reality of a threat coming from a small country in the Caucasus with little influence on the international scene. Nevertheless, the repetition of its attacks against French interests, aimed at exacerbating regional or island separatism, ended up convincing that the Baku regime was not only aiming to defend the right of peoples to self-determination.
It appeared that this strategy was part of a history of destabilization of democracies launched by the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Tensions between France and Azerbaijan are at their highest since the resumption of hostilities with Armenia, for which Paris took up the cause. Faithful to the interference and disinformation techniques of the (Soviet) KGB and the Russian regime today, the totalitarian regime in Baku, led by President Ilham Aliev, orchestrates its anti-French campaign with a certain sense of organization.
Baku notably supported the creation, in July 2023, of the Baku Initiative Group (GIB), which invites overseas separatists to unite against “neocolonialism” from France. According to him, the French Antilles would be prey to “a genocide by substitution” and the resources of Guyana would be “looted”. Accused of being on official duty for his government, despite his organization’s NGO status, Abbas Abbasov, the director of the GIB, retorted in February: “It is not the fault of the Initiative Group if these colonies are French. »
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers New Caledonia: interference operations by Azerbaijan which do not explain everything
Add to your selections
With a serious look on his face, on May 16, the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, Gérald Darmanin, accused Baku of interference in New Caledonia, while Azerbaijani flags were flying during insurgent gatherings. On March 2, in front of the courthouse in Bastia, Corsica, two Azerbaijani journalists attracted attention during an independence demonstration. One worked for the Azerbaijan government news agency and the other for the Turkish television channel Haber Global. In their reports, they depicted Corsica on the verge of independence and denounced the arrest of two nationalist activists.
Between influence and interference
At the beginning of 2024, the Azerbaijani Parliament called for “the pure and simple recognition of the independence of Corsica”in the same way as that of « la Kanaky [la Nouvelle-Calédonie] et de Maohi Nui [la Polynésie française] ». For the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), the activity of the Baku Initiative Group, born on the sidelines of the movement of non-aligned countries, which Azerbaijan chaired from 2019 to 2024, and whose President Aliev is the secretary general, stands on the edge between influence and interference.
You have 51.33% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
