France openly implements a policy of pressure and discrimination against Muslims and organizes various Islamophobic campaigns, - said the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, at the international conference in Baku, "Protecting Diversity: Fighting Islamophobia in 2024".

"France, along with its traditional policy of neo-colonialism, openly implements a policy of oppression and discrimination against Muslims and organizes various Islamophobic campaigns," Aliyev noted.

According to him, France "under the guise of secularism" adopts legislation and political decisions aimed only at limiting the rights and freedoms of Muslims.

"In this country, mosques, Muslim cultural centers and cemeteries are subjected to various kinds of insults and harassment of Muslim citizens," said Aliyev.

As the President of Azerbaijan noted, the trends of Islamophobia are growing rapidly in the world.

"Unfortunately, Islamophobia is currently an integral part of the state policy of many Western states that consider themselves democratic," the President of Azerbaijan noted.

According to him, some Western institutions are also involved in anti-Islamic activities.

"Today, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have turned into platforms for the promotion of Islamophobia and the implementation of policies based on this ideology. The current negative trend is also manifested in the activities of some global media structures," Aliyev noted.