In response to Macron’s admission of the French state’s responsibility in events in Algeria
father-in-law
The French far right is striving to disrupt the calm observed in Algerian-French relations, based on the sensitive memory file, which has previously caused aggravation of bilateral relations many times, by poisoning the working atmosphere of the mixed committee to discuss the memory file.
In reference to the initiatives taken by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, at the level of memory, such as acknowledging the responsibility of the French state in suppressing the Algerian demonstrators and throwing them into the Parisian Seine River, on October 17, 1961, and the assassination of all of the fighters supporting the revolution, represented by the martyr Larbi Ben M’hidi, Ali Boumendjel and Maurice Audin, the supporters of “French Algeria” aim to recognize what they call the Oran events.
This demand came in the context of a written question published in the Official Gazette of the French National Assembly (the lower chamber of Parliament) on Tuesday, June 23, addressed by MP Cyril Triboyani to Alif Rivaux, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs in the government of Sébastien Le Cornu, who visited Algeria on May 8 to participate in the commemoration of the Setif, Guelma and Kherarat massacres.
The French representative calls on the government to “recognize” the Oran events that took place on July 5, 1962, which coincides with the declaration of Algeria’s independence, and which witnessed casualties among French citizens residing in Algeria, in addition to individuals considered supporters of the French presence, as he claimed.
The questioner calls on the French authorities to investigate those events, which he said left a deep mark on the memory of French citizens returning to their homeland, the families of the victims, and everyone who is still committed to the historical truth, more than sixty years after them.
Representative Cyril Triboyani alluded to the initiatives undertaken by the French President in this context, which came, as is known, based on the advice of the French historian and advisor on memory affairs to the French Presidency, Benjamin Stora, in the report he sent to the Elysee Palace, in the year 2021, where he referred to the initiatives taken in this regard, and called for what he called “full recognition of these events and a clear study of the historical truth.”
Before asking about the measures that the government intends to take to enhance official recognition of the Oran events that occurred on July 5, 1962, in order to preserve the memory of the victims, and contribute to transferring this tragic incident from national history to future generations, as he put it.
This written question comes at a time when Algerian-French relations are witnessing a remarkable calm, marked by many mutual visits between officials of the two countries, the most recent of which was the visit of the Minister of the Interior, Local Communities and Transport, Said Saioud, to France, less than a month ago, in response to a visit by his French counterpart, Laurent Nonnays, to Algeria last February.
Raising this demand leads to the question of whether the aim of the question is to embarrass the French President in front of public opinion in his country? On the one hand, it undermined the work of the mixed committee to discuss the memory file, whose fate remains ambiguous, as it was not among the files that were reopened after the two countries turned to calm.
