BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 21. In Azerbaijan, women work side by side with men, while in France they are removed from society, the chief executive of the Paris-based online newspaper "Lagazetteaz.fr" Jean-Michel Brun said, TurkicWorld reports.

He spoke at an international conference on "Decolonization: Empowerment and Development of Women" in Baku.

"Azerbaijan is an example of the issue of gender equality. It did not appear in France until five centuries later," he said.

Jean-Michel Brun noted that colonization is the wildest crime, and France committed it. France, ostensibly as a'symbol of freedom', ordered the women of Algeria to remove the veil in 1958. The true purpose was to relegate women's place in civil society to the background. Taking off the veil and uncovering your face may be called freedom, but a woman has the right to dress as she wishes.

Baku hosts an international conference on "Decolonization: Empowerment and Development of Women". The event is organized by the Baku Initiative Group of the Non-Aligned Movement.