BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20. Some countries continue to pursue colonialism. Among those, the foremost one is France, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in his address to the participants of the "Neocolonialism: Violation of Human Rights and Injustice" international conference, Trend reports.

"Overall, most of the bloody crimes of the colonialism history of mankind were committed by none other than France. France had occupied tens of countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Latin America, plundered their resources, and for many years oppressed their peoples while perpetrating numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. The French troops subjected hundreds of thousands of civilians to ethnic cleansing based on their ethnic and religious affiliation.

Throughout 30 years in the XX century, France had conducted nearly 200 nuclear tests in French Polynesia and 17 nuclear tests in Algeria. The dire consequences of those tests have, to this day, affected Polynesia and the Algerian people. In response to the appeals by the multitude of organizations, it is imperative to evaluate the repercussions of the nuclear tests and disburse appropriate compensations," President Ilham Aliyev said.