0:00

It sounds like a diplomatic dispute

0:02

conjured by a Wheel of Fortune.

0:11

France is accusing Azerbaijan

0:23

of fermenting unrest in New

0:30

Caledonia This unlikely

0:32

spat is, however, very

0:35

much happening. France's

0:37

Interior Minister Gerald Damagnin, perhaps seeking to

0:39

forestall the obvious follow-up, gravely asserted that

0:41

this isn't a fantasy, it is a

0:44

reality. By

0:48

way of retort, Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry

0:50

spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh, Hrumft, we refute

0:52

any connection between the leaders of

0:55

the struggle for freedom in Caledonia

0:57

and Azerbaijan. Which,

1:00

to be fair to France, does sound like the sort of thing you might

1:02

say if there is, in fact, a

1:06

connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom

1:08

in Caledonia and Azerbaijan. We

1:12

will return presently to the diverting question of why Azerbaijan on

1:14

this issue is a

1:19

rebellion in New Caledonia, in the southwestern Pacific

1:21

Ocean, given that there is, and we checked,

1:23

fully 13,793 kilometres between their respective capitals, Baku

1:25

and Numea. Seriously,

1:30

flying between them would take like 40

1:32

hours. You'd have

1:34

to change into Bleezy, Dubai and Sydney. The

1:38

question of why Azerbaijan would be a rebellion in

1:40

New Caledonia is a rebellion in the southern Pacific

1:42

Ocean, given that there is a connection between the

1:44

two. But

1:48

we should look first at why New

1:50

Caledonia is of such interest to

1:53

France, whose capital is even further

1:55

from Numea than Baku. Also,

1:58

about 40 hours change in Helsinki. and

2:00

Singapore. The

2:04

reason is that New Caledonia is part

2:06

of France after a fashion. France

2:09

helped itself to the archipelago in the

2:12

1850s and for the next several

2:14

decades dumped convicts there as the

2:16

UK had been doing in Australia.

2:19

The relationship between New Caledonia and

2:21

France since has not always been

2:23

easy but in three referendums within

2:25

the last six years, a condition

2:27

of a late 90s accord which

2:30

gradually transferred more powers to local

2:32

government, New Caledonians have

2:34

rejected the opportunity of becoming a

2:36

sovereign nation and chosen to maintain

2:39

the connection with France. There

2:41

is arguably an asterisk next to

2:43

the last of these votes as

2:46

pro-independence types boycotted, claiming that it

2:48

shouldn't have been held amid a

2:50

nasty Covid-19 outbreak. Nevertheless,

2:54

New Caledonians remain French citizens,

2:56

returning representatives to Paris and

2:59

even rather quaintly voting in

3:01

EU elections. President Emmanuel Macron

3:03

visited New Caledonia as recently

3:06

as last year. As

3:08

this explainer goes to air, he has

3:10

made an impromptu return, still no small

3:13

undertaking even if you do have your

3:15

own time. For

3:22

things in New Caledonia have

3:24

recently gone seriously askew. In

3:27

recent days New Caledonia has been

3:29

racked by dreadful violence. At

3:31

least six people have been killed,

3:33

including two jandams, hundreds injured, dozens

3:36

of buildings and vehicles destroyed. A

3:39

state of emergency has been declared

3:41

including a nighttime curfew and bans

3:44

on the sale of alcohol. The

3:46

video platform TikTok has been unplugged.

3:49

As more French troops and police are

3:51

dispatched, The air forces of Australia

3:54

and New Zealand are scrambling to

3:56

evacuate their citizens. Hello

4:00

from New Caledonia, A scathing

4:03

violence and the deadly rise.

4:06

As issue is a reform to

4:08

voting in New Caledonia provincial elections.

4:11

The franchise is to be extended

4:13

to any French citizen who has

4:15

lived in New Caledonia for ten

4:18

years. This has gone over badly

4:20

with some of New Caledonia. as

4:22

indigenous people or Canucks who comprise

4:25

roughly forty percent of New Caledonia

4:27

two hundred and seventy thousand people

4:29

speak Canucks. Who tend towards favoring

4:32

independence from France, feared that extending

4:34

the vote to European income as

4:36

will dilute their influence and suspect

4:38

that this is indeed the idea.

4:42

At which point the reasonable listener likely

4:44

still wondering what in the wide world

4:46

of sports any of this has to

4:48

do with as a bus arms whose

4:50

interests in the Pacific could be supposed

4:53

to be an extensive. However,

4:58

it is not completely impossible that

5:01

as Amazon is taking the opportunity

5:03

to cause France trouble a long

5:05

way away for reasons closer to

5:07

home. France, as

5:09

in general been a good

5:11

friend to Azerbaijan's neighbor and

5:13

rival Armenia. Last year, France

5:15

was notably critical of Azerbaijan's

5:17

ethnic cleansing of the Armenian

5:19

enclave of Nagorno Karabakh. As

5:21

a buzz on said, President

5:23

Micron seems to have a

5:25

problem with international law by

5:27

way of rebuke. As a

5:29

present, President Ilham Aliyev has

5:32

teed off repeatedly at France

5:34

accusing Parasols outrageous neo colonialism

5:36

Which is to be clear,

5:38

the. Worst kind of neo

5:40

colonialism among other malfeasance. his.

5:43

Last year as a bizarre

5:45

invited separatists from several friends

5:47

territories to a conference in

5:49

Baku and phone something called

5:51

the Baku Initiative groups whose

5:53

mission statement the clear support

5:55

for as it puts it

5:57

French liberation and anti colonialist

5:59

movements. Judging by putting of

6:01

the disturbances in New Caledonia, delegates

6:03

were also given Azerbaijani flags to

6:06

wave once back home building barricades

6:08

and setting fire to things. France

6:11

also complains of a social media

6:13

disinformation campaign targeting New Caledonia and

6:15

operated from as a bizarre and

6:17

and honestly it would be more

6:19

surprising if they wasn't one. As

6:22

such enterprises cost and beans to

6:24

run and are as effective as

6:26

the human capacity for believing what

6:28

it wants to be true is

6:30

a tunnel. It is also doubtless

6:32

the case that nationalist grievances no

6:34

harder to stir up in New

6:36

Caledonia vanities anywhere else tell people

6:38

they should be better off, and

6:40

the fact. That they aren't is all

6:42

someone elses faults and they will burn down

6:44

their own country in agreement. From.

6:47

A local radio. I'm Andrew Miller.