Today, Sunday, Algeria commemorated the victims of the demonstrators who were killed by the French police in Paris in October 1961, by observing a minute of silence to mourn their lives.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune participated in the event by laying a wreath commemorating hundreds of Algerians who were killed by French police bullets and thrown into the waters of the Seine when they were demonstrating to demand the independence of their country and the lifting of the curfew imposed on Algerians alone.
In parallel, a demonstration will be held in Paris today, Sunday, to denounce the massacre under the slogan "Truth and Justice" called by the League for Human Rights and other human rights associations to commemorate the October 17, 1961 demonstrations.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Algeria said that this year, the Algerian authorities added more momentum to the official celebrations that commemorate the date of the October 17 massacre.
The correspondent added that the current crisis that arose between Algeria and Paris against the background of President Emmanuel Macron's recent statements may have been reflected in the way the Algerian official commemoration of the massacre, such as President Tebboune's decision to establish a minute of silence to commemorate this memory.
Sixty years ago, more than 30,000 Algerians were demonstrating peacefully at the invitation of the National Liberation Front branch in France, with the aim of denouncing the curfew imposed on French Muslims (Algerians) exclusively by Paris police chief Maurice Papon.
On the other hand, 10,000 police and gendarmes were deployed, and the repression was bloody, as many protesters were shot dead and some bodies were thrown into the Seine.
Historians estimate the death toll in the tens of at least up to 200, while the official toll does not speak of more than 3 dead and 11,000 wounded.
Yesterday, Saturday, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced a minute of silence every year, across the entire national territory, starting today, Sunday, at 11 am, in honor of the souls of the martyrs of the massacre of October 17, 1961 in Paris.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned what he described as "unjustifiable crimes", at an official ceremony to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the events.
A statement from the Elysee said that the head of state "confessed the facts. The crimes that were committed that night under the authority of Maurice Papon (the Paris police chief at the time) cannot be justified."