CUMHURÝYET
June 06, 1998, Saturday
EXTERNAL NEWS
According to the Algerian press, France forgot her massacring of 1,5 million Algerians in a very short time.
FRENCH MASSACRE UNDER INVESTIGATION
When the French Parliament accused Turkey of conducting genocide, files were re-opened on the massacres perpetrated by France in Algeria.
ANKARA (Cumhuriyet Bureau) - When the French National Assembly accepted the so-called Armenian genocide, the Algerian public opinion, having undergone French massacres for years, also took action. The Algerian public opinion and press charge the French leadership, which has accepted the “genocide” conducted allegedly 83 years ago, with the murder of 1,5 million Algerians and displacement of 2 million others. During the “Setif massacre” conducted on May 8, 1945, 45 thousand Algerian citizens were killed by the French soldiers.
The process in which the so-called Armenian genocide was accepted giving way to tense relations between Turkey and France had repercussions in Algeria. Newspapers published in Algeria put the decision of the French National Assembly on the front page and stated that France had forgotten very soon about the “genocide” she had conducted in Algeria. In the “La Nouvelle - New Democracy” newspaper published in French, under the heading of “Algerian Genocide : Selective mind” the following statement was given: “Since we know that French leaders do not have any practice other than satisfying themselves, no one was surprised when faced with this double standard. This country, a so-called human rights defender, is hiding behind the committed crimes under the cover of justice and solidarity.
A massacre program was prepared
In the article where the question “Does a Muslim suffer less than a Christian?” took place, it was stated that a number of French clerics including Kardinal Lavigerie had prepared a “massacre program” in order to eliminate the Algerians. The article reported that during the War of Independence of Algeria, the French had placed people in concentration camps and had destroyed the cities by using napalm bombs. The following were also stated in the article : “ The barbarians massacred women and children with a brutality not consistent with the era we are living in, and left behind just a burning country. The war of independence displayed once again that the generation following Bugeuad, Lamorciere, Massena, and others (French Generals) was no different than their ancestors. The people, who nobly resisted against the laws and punishments within the colonial order of Europeans and Christians, received reaction through torture and terrorism.
In the article which claimed that the Jews had been subject to genocide for a term of four years, and that the Armenians’ sufferings had come as a response to their alliance with the Russians, it was also stated that the massacre conducted by the French against the Algerians had continued for 132 years from 1830 until 1962.
Algerian historians concluded that the number of the Algerians killed in 132 years was over 1,5 million. In the news article, the following message was sent to the Algerian politicians : “In a period in which the criminal states started to explain what they had done in the past and showed reasons, France should leave aside her arrogant and ignorant attitude against our culture and people. Here is a fight for our deputies to struggle, instead of dealing with wrong problems. We should not expect France to deal with this issue by herself which she considers as a taboo. Let’s sustain our campaign for the prosecution of the dead or alive criminals of genocide who are known as heroes in their own countries.”
In addition, El Moudjahid, another newspaper published in French,
has started a campaign for the re-opening of
the file concerning the “Setif incidents” recorded as the massacre of May
8, 1945, and for the punishment of the criminals. During the Setif massacre
which is regarded as a crime against humanity, 45 thousand Algerian citizens
were killed in one day by the French soldiers.