albawaba | 'Was There an Algerian Nation Before 'French Colonization' Macron Asks?, 3 Oct 2021

27 Aug 2021

Greek City Times | Turkey's rhetorical war with France resumes: "Macron should face his country's colonial past", 29 Aug

The comments were triggered by Macron describing "networks", which are manipulated by Ankara, Moscow and Beijing, spreading "anti-French propaganda" in Africa. During his visit to the former French colony, Macron called on young Algerians and Africans "not to be seduced" by "the enormous manipulation" of networks instigated by foreign powers and present France as the "enemy".

He named Turkey, Russia and China, attributing to them a "neo-colonialist and imperialist agenda".

Al Jazeera | France's Macron in Algeria: Frosty ties, bitter history, 25 Aug

Why have relations been strained between the two countries?
• In October 2021, ties between Algeria and France nosedived after Macron was reported to have questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before French colonialism. He also decried Algiers' "political-military system" of rewriting history in a discourse of "hatred towards France".

• According to French daily Le Monde, the comments were made during a meeting with Macron and French-Algerian descendants of the Harkis, Algerians who fought on the French side during Algeria's war of independence.

• The comments also followed a French decision to sharply reduce the number of visas it grants to citizens of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.
[...]
What's the history of France's colonisation of Algeria?
France occupied Algeria for 132 years, before the latter won independence in March 1962 after a fierce and bloody war lasting more than seven years.

Algerian authorities say 1.5 million people were killed in the war, whereas many French historians put the number of those killed at half a million. The majority of those killed were Algerian. ...

OPEC (1960 FTA): IR, IQ, KW, NG, SA, VZ, LY, AE, DZ, AO, GQ, CG, GA; + OM*, s-SS*, SS*, BN*, RU*, MX*, AZ*, KZ*, MY*, BH*, EC*, ID*, QA*

OIC (1969 NGO): AZ, AE, IR, IQ, BD, TR, TN, SN, SL, GA, GW, QA, KW, ML, MR, YE, JO, ID, PK, AF, UZ, BH, AL, UG, BN, BJ, TM, BF, TJ, TG, TD, DZ, SA, SS, SY, SR, SO, OM, GM, GY, GN, PS, KM, KG, KZ, CM, CI, LB, LY, MV, MY, EG, MA, MZ, NE, NG

AU/OAU(2002/1963 FTA): BI, BJ, CM, CF, CG, CD, GY, GA, ST, CM, DJ, ER, ET, KE, MG, MU, RW, SC, SO, SS, s-SS, TZ, UG, DZ, EG, LY, MR, MA, EH, TN, AO, BW, EZ, LS, MW, MZ, NA, ZA, ZM, BN, BF, CV, CI, GH, GM, GN, LY, ML, NI, NG, SL, SN, TG, TD; PAPSS (2022): AU