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Ulviyya Poladova

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The Baku Initiative Group (BIG) has strongly condemned the preliminary legislative initiative adopted by the Corsican Assembly concerning the self-proclaimed "Republic of Artsakh" and Armenian citizens facing criminal prosecution in the Republic of Azerbaijan, AzerNEWS reports.

In a statement, BIG described the initiative as one-sided, provocative, and politically motivated. It said the proposal contradicts fundamental principles such as sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in the internal affairs of states, while echoing geopolitical narratives promoted by the French government.

According to the statement, the actions of those supporting the initiative cannot be regarded as an independent expression of the political will of the Corsican people. Instead, BIG argued that they have chosen to act as instruments of France's foreign policy agenda, becoming political tools of Paris rather than representatives committed to defending Corsica's national interests, language, culture, and identity.

The statement further described the position as hypocritical, noting that the same political circles advocating the right to self-determination thousands of kilometers away have failed to secure even the most basic linguistic and political rights for the people of Corsica.

The Baku Initiative Group noted that under Article 2 of the French Constitution, French remains the only official language of the Republic. It added that French judicial authorities annulled provisions recognizing Corsican and French as languages of debate in the Corsican Assembly and as working languages of the Corsican Executive. In June 2025, the French Council of State refused to consider the Corsican authorities' appeal against those decisions.

The statement also highlighted that although France signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1999, it has yet to ratify the treaty. It added that the Council of Europe explicitly recognizes Corsican as one of the historic regional languages covered by the Charter.

Before adopting initiatives concerning the South Caucasus, BIG urged Corsican representatives to answer several questions, including why they continue to accept the authority of a state that refuses to grant equal institutional status to the Corsican language, why they do not show the same determination in opposing what it described as France's centralized and assimilationist policies, and why they speak of decolonization abroad while overlooking the continuing impact of French rule on Corsica's identity, education, language, and political decision-making.

The Baku Initiative Group emphasized that it distinguishes between the Corsican people and those who, in its view, serve the interests of the French government by prioritizing political loyalty to Paris over Corsica's national interests.