ISTANBUL

French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks proved his country still pursues a colonial approach toward Africa, according to a Turkish scholar.  

"I do not have to ask for forgiveness, that is not the matter, the word would break all ties," Macron said Jan. 11 in an interview with the French weekly, Le Point. 

Muserref Yardim told Anadolu that France colonized Algeria for 132 years and “colonialism” refers to a bloody and traumatic period of Algerian history that remained in the minds of the nation. 

She noted that Algerians frequently demand an apology and remorse from France for massacres in Algeria committed during the colonial era.

"The issue of France's official apology for what it did in Algeria has been at the center of the relations between the two countries for many years," said the scholar from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Necmettin Erbakan University.

She said Macron described French colonialism in Algeria as a “crime against humanity” while preparing for the 2017 presidential election.

"In 2018, Macron also said that his country used systematic torture during the Algerian liberation war," she said, adding that France has taken steps to confront its colonial past in recent years but the moves were symbolic.

"Macron commissioned historian Benjamin Stora in 2020 to investigate France's colonial legacy in Algeria," she said. "A series of symbolic steps were taken, excluding 'apology' or 'regret', to improve ties between the two countries. In his report, Stora said that there is no problem to issue an apology for the massacres committed in Algeria. Macron, on the other hand, said that he would not apologize for his country’s colonial rule."  

French colonialism in the Algerian national anthem

Citing Macron's latest remarks, Yardim said France's official approach to Algeria for its colonial past has not changed.

She noted the French president's remarks to Le Monde: 'If it weren't for France, you wouldn't exist now, you owe your existence to France."

Macron tried to honor his country’s colonial past in the remarks, according to Yardim.

She said an apology would be the first step in restoring relations with other African countries, especially Algeria.

"Some groups, who demand an apology from France over its massacres committed in Algeria, are demanding that Algeria-France relations should be reconsidered," she said. "The traces of the French colonial past are even reflected in the Algerian national anthem. The anger and reckoning against France are seen in the anthem. The demand of both Algeria and other African colonies is that France should confront its colonial past and do what was necessary by accepting the crimes against humanity it has committed."

"However, the officials don’t have the intention of taking positive steps."

- 'Policies are for the benefit of colonized nations'

France still claims sovereignty in Africa, even though the colonial period is over, According to Yardim,

She noted the speech given by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 in the Senegalese capital of Dakar.

"Even if there are mistakes and crimes in history, no one should expect today's generations to pay for the crimes committed by past generations," said Sarkozy.

Yardim noted that the colonialist mentality still exists in Europe.

She said France passed the law on colonialism on Feb. 25, 2005, to impose teachers to teach the positive effects of the French presence in North Africa to students. But the bill was withdrawn due to the public reaction.

"Although the law was strongly condemned by Algeria and other colonial countries, France still believes that colonial policies continue to say that policies are for the benefit of the colonized nations," she said.

"The mission of 'civilizing the colonial people' remains in the French policy, showing that although the colonies have declared their independence, France still does not withdraw from these countries and tries to protect its sovereignty," she added.