Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stressed that the memory file between Algeria and France does not accept compromise and compromise, noting that it must be addressed boldly to restore trust between the two countries.
In a message published by the Algerian presidency on the occasion of the National Day of Memory (commemoration of the massacres of May 8, 1945), Tebboune said: “The file of memory cannot be eroded by obsolescence or oblivion due to the passage of years, and does not accept compromise and compromise, and will remain at the heart of our attention until it is addressed in an objective, bold and fair manner for the historical truth.”
Tebboune continued: “While I affirm my readiness to move towards the future in an atmosphere of trust, I consider that credibility and seriousness are a prerequisite for completing the procedures and endeavors related to this delicate and sensitive file.”
Algerians remember bloody events that began with a demonstration in the east of the country to celebrate the Allied victory over Nazism, then turned into a demand for a “free and independent Algeria” suppressed by colonial forces and resulted in thousands of deaths.
Since 2022, a joint commission of ten historians, five from each side, has been working to “look together at that historical period” from the beginning of colonialism in 1830 until the end of the War of Independence in 1962.
The committee held several meetings in the two capitals and agreed to recover all property symbolizing the state sovereignty of Emir Abdelkader Ben Mohieddine (1808-1883), who was seen by Algerians as the founder of the modern state and the hero of the resistance against French colonialism.
At the end of March, the French National Assembly approved a resolution condemning the “massacre” of 17 October 1961 in Paris by police against Algerian demonstrators, which Tebboune called a “positive step”.
The international forum in Algeria emphasizes African unity and support for Palestine