ALGIERS, Algeria

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said the “heinous massacres" committed during the French colonial era in Algeria "can't be forgotten."

In a message on the 77th anniversary of the massacre of May 8, 1945 committed by the French colonial army against Algerian demonstrators, Tebboune said the bloodshed was a turning point in Algeria’s history.

The May 8, 1945 massacre was the largest and ugliest carnage committed by France in a single day where Algerian official figures estimate that around 45,000 Algerians were killed for demanding independence to their country.

Algeria represents the most recent and bloodiest example of France's colonial history on the African continent.

Approximately 1.5 million Algerians were killed and millions more displaced in an eight-year struggle for independence that started in 1954.

For years, Algeria has demanded France to recognize and compensate for its crimes committed against the Algerian people during the French colonial period between 1830 and 1962.

Paris has never officially apologized to Algeria as a state for its colonial policies.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar