Algeria to France: Recognize your own genocide
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Algerian Prime Minister Abdulaziz Belkadem has called on France to "accept that it carried out genocide" in Algeria, an announcement that carries particular weight as French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy leaves today from France for a 2 day visit to Algeria.
Belkadem recalled French President Jacques Chirac's statement that "Countries are called on to accept the dramas and mistakes that they have led the way to" in reference to Armenian claims against Turkey, and said "We call on France to accept that what it carried out was a genocide during the years between 1830 and 1962 when it occupied Algeria. This identification of genocide includes not only genocide itself, but the attempt to wipe out our cultural and national identity. They need to remember that in addition to massacring people, they also erased the cultural wealth of a country."
Meetings between the central-right Sarkozy, who is seen as a likely candidate for president next year, and Algerian officials are now expected to take place in the shadow of these calls for genocide recognition on the part of France.