As we reported, the court of Bastia banned the provisions of the rules of procedure, which stated that the debates in the local parliament were in Corsican and French. The court considered that this provision contradicts Article 2 of the French Constitution. In addition to the language issue, the court stated that the expression "Corsican people" does not exist, citing the fact that the local regulations defining the existence of the Corsican people are also unconstitutional.
President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the island of Corsica for the first time within the framework of the election campaign, noted that despite the ratification of the European Charter for Regional Languages, the language of the Republic is French, which is stated in the Constitution and will not change. With that, he put an end to the demand of nationalists regarding the regional Corsican language.
It should be noted that the Corsican is a branch of the Italian language spoken in the Tuscany region of Italy. The Corsican is spoken not only in Corsica, but also in the Italian island of Sardinia. The Corsican is included in the group of languages in danger of extinction by UNESCO. Thus, the Corsican language, which is spoken by about 150,000 people, is in danger of disappearing.
The ban on the use of the Corsican language is an official policy of discrimination against the rights of the island's population to language, culture and overall national identity. This policy is a flagrant and forceful violation of France's international obligations regarding universal human rights and the rights of national minorities. As Fernand de Varenne, the UN special rapporteur on minorities, has pointed out, allowing only the French language in Corsica is discriminatory and a violation of international law.
Umud Mirzayev, president of the International Eurasia Press Fund and the Organization, calls on France to correct this mistake, adhere to international legal norms and the UN Charter, respect the rights, freedoms, cultures, histories and other moral values of the peoples of the world.
