President Tebboune demands from France "total respect for the Algerian state"
The Algerian president called on France to “fully respect the Algerian state”.
(illustrative image) RYAD KRAMDI / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
A possible return of the
Algerian
ambassador to
France, recalled earlier this month in Algiers after critical remarks by President Emmanuel Macron, is "
conditioned on total respect for the Algerian state
" by Paris, declared Sunday (October 10th). Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
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The return of the Algerian ambassador to France
“
is conditioned on respect for Algeria, total respect for the Algerian state.
We forget that it was once a French colony (...) History must not be falsified,
”Abdelmadjid Tebboune told Algerian media, in his first public statement in reaction to the French president's remarks.
"
The State is standing with all its pillars, with its power, the power of its army and its valiant people
", continued President Tebboune, also supreme chief of the armed forces and Minister of Defense.
He also underlined about Algerian history and French colonization, that “
we cannot act as if nothing had happened
”.
For "
the rest, it is their internal affairs
", he said in an allusion to possible electoral aims of the critical remarks of the French president.
►
To read also: Algeria prohibits its airspace to French military planes
Controversial words from the French president
Emmanuel Macron sparked the wrath of Algiers after remarks reported on Saturday, October 2 by the French newspaper
Le Monde
accusing the
Algerian
“
politico-military
” system of maintaining a “
memorial rent
” by serving his people an “
official history
” which “
Does not rely on truths
”.
According to
Le Monde
, the French president also affirmed that “
the construction of Algeria as a nation is a phenomenon to watch.
Was there an Algerian nation before French colonization?
That is the question (...)
”, one of the passages that struck Algerian opinion the most.
On October 2, Algiers decided to recall "
immediately
" its ambassador to Paris and
de facto
banned
French military planes from the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane in the Sahel from flying over its territory.
Last Tuesday, President Macron
said he wanted “
appeasement
”
on the memorial subject between France and Algeria, calling for “
walking together
” and “
recognizing all memories
”.
►
Also to listen: France-Algeria: why is it so complicated?
(with AFP)
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Algeria
France
Abdelmadjid Tebboune
Emmanuel Macron