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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 23 2011
Kamel: France should face its own massacres first
Algerian Deputy Parliament Speaker Bounah Kamel, calling the `yes'
vote on Armenian genocide in France hypocritical, said that France
should accept its own massacres in Algeria first.
Kamel, attending a conference organized with the assistance of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in İstanbul on Friday, on
the topic of `Change in Muslim Societies and the Role of Women' said,
`Algeria's population was eight million in 1830 before the French
occupation started. When France left the country in 1962, the
population was six million, as if Algerian people never gave birth in
a century.'
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president since 1999, demanded an
apology from the Sarkozy government in 2006 for France's bloody
activities in Algeria. Kamel stated, however, that France negatively
responded to Algerian calls.
`The Algerian people always fought against the French colonial system
in their country, which violently exploited their natural, economic
and human resources. The French military response was violent against
the Algerian struggle, killing people or expelling them out of their
own territory. Once, in May 1945, the French army killed more than
45,000 Algerians in two or three days,' he stated, further emphasizing
French brutality.
`Apart from turning down Algerian calls to face the bloodshed in
Algeria, France issued a bill in 2003 honoring the French occupation
of Algeria, which rewarded killers of Algerian people, especially
French commanders,' Kamel added.
`They condemn the Turkish activities allegedly organized against
Armenians but don't discuss their own bloody activities,' he stated,
claiming that the French initiatives on the Armenian issue are
hypocritical. Another attendee at the conference, Zahra Nouojahida, a
living witness to the Algerian war of independence that lasted from
1954 to 1962, mentioned humiliating crimes committed against woman
during this war, including `rapes of young women in front of their
fathers.' Nouojahida, sadly remembering these French activities during
the war years, noted that `France should correct its own mistakes
before giving advice to other nations,' in a criticism of the Armenian
genocide bill voted upon in France on Thursday.
Dec 23 2011
Kamel: France should face its own massacres first
Algerian Deputy Parliament Speaker Bounah Kamel, calling the `yes'
vote on Armenian genocide in France hypocritical, said that France
should accept its own massacres in Algeria first.
Kamel, attending a conference organized with the assistance of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in İstanbul on Friday, on
the topic of `Change in Muslim Societies and the Role of Women' said,
`Algeria's population was eight million in 1830 before the French
occupation started. When France left the country in 1962, the
population was six million, as if Algerian people never gave birth in
a century.'
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian president since 1999, demanded an
apology from the Sarkozy government in 2006 for France's bloody
activities in Algeria. Kamel stated, however, that France negatively
responded to Algerian calls.
`The Algerian people always fought against the French colonial system
in their country, which violently exploited their natural, economic
and human resources. The French military response was violent against
the Algerian struggle, killing people or expelling them out of their
own territory. Once, in May 1945, the French army killed more than
45,000 Algerians in two or three days,' he stated, further emphasizing
French brutality.
`Apart from turning down Algerian calls to face the bloodshed in
Algeria, France issued a bill in 2003 honoring the French occupation
of Algeria, which rewarded killers of Algerian people, especially
French commanders,' Kamel added.
`They condemn the Turkish activities allegedly organized against
Armenians but don't discuss their own bloody activities,' he stated,
claiming that the French initiatives on the Armenian issue are
hypocritical. Another attendee at the conference, Zahra Nouojahida, a
living witness to the Algerian war of independence that lasted from
1954 to 1962, mentioned humiliating crimes committed against woman
during this war, including `rapes of young women in front of their
fathers.' Nouojahida, sadly remembering these French activities during
the war years, noted that `France should correct its own mistakes
before giving advice to other nations,' in a criticism of the Armenian
genocide bill voted upon in France on Thursday.