Baku. TurkicWorld:

At the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Coordinating Bureau in Baku, an application for full membership in the NAM was registered from South Sudan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov told to journalists, following the ministerial meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau, TurkicWorld reports.

Bayramov noted that with South Sudan's accession, the number of NAM member countries will increase to 121.

"The increase in the number of member countries once again highlights the importance of the Movement in the international relations system. Another success is the agreement on Uzbekistan's chairmanship in the NAM after Uganda," the minister said.

Azerbaijan has been chairing NAM since 2019. Despite the country's chairmanship coinciding with the height of the pandemic, official Baku has successfully fulfilled its chairing mission and obtained the right to lead the Movement for an additional year.

Speaking at the ministerial meeting of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement yesterday, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that one of the countries that still is pursuing the neo-colonialism is France.

"French administered territories outside Europe are nasty remains of the French colonial empire. France must respect the sovereignty of the Comoros over the island of Mayotte as well as the rights of the New Caledonian people and other peoples in French overseas communities and territories," President Ilham Aliyev said.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that France has to apologize for its colonial past and bloody colonial crimes and acts of genocide against NAM member countries in Africa, South-East Asia and other places.