Coded Messages From Algeria And Ankara To Paris

In a move that included a lot of symbolism and suggestiveness, Algeria and Turkey signed three new contracts to develop a petrochemical plant for the production of “polypropylene” in the Turkish city of Ceyhan, an endeavor that came days after provocative statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, targeting both Algeria and Turkey together.

The signing of the contracts was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish Ministers of Industry and Transport, an agreement that resulted in a partnership between the Algerian energy giant, “Sonatrach”, and its Turkish counterpart, “Renaissance”, according to a statement release on Sunday by the Algerian company.

The first contract relates to the completion of the project in all its stages, including detailed engineering studies, procurement, completion and start-up. The second contract relates to periodic maintenance works for devices and equipment, and the third contract pertains to production sales and marketing services, which are the contracts that culminated in more than two years of work and negotiations.

The Turkish president’s attendance at the signing ceremony of the three contracts is considered encrypted messages, according to observers, to the French president, whereby the Algerian-Turkish relations are stronger than Macron imagines, and they are continuing to diversify at the expense of the French influence in Algeria, which has lost a lot due to the French policies of uncalculated consequences.

This agreement comes two days after the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, in which he praised the Turkish state and its role in the process of supporting development in Algeria in recent years.
Lamamra stressed that Algeria is looking forward to more partnership relations and Turkish investments, and pointed out that Algeria and Turkey have deep historical relations and strong moral ties.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune was the first to send coded messages to France, in his famous interview with the French magazine “Le Point”, in which he blamed Paris for not being serious about supporting investment in Algeria, when he said that “Algeria enjoys excellent relations with the Turks, because they have invested nearly five billion dollars in Algeria without any political demands”.

He addressed those who were disturbed by the Algerian-Turkish rapprochement, to “come and invest as the Turks invested in Algeria”.

As a recall, Macron had strongly attacked the Turkish presence in Algeria, describing it as colonialism, according to what was stated in the daily “Le Monde”, and expressed his surprise at the Algerians’ conviction that the Turkish presence is very different from the French occupation of Algeria, statements to which responded Mr. Lamamra by saying: Whatever the cause of the problem between France and Algeria, I don’t think it will affect our relations with sister countries like Turkey”.

The Turkish response to the French president did not lag behind. Ankara’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, responded, describing Macron’s statements as “cheap and useless,” and Oglu said that “France has recently been trying to review its colonial history,” but he cautioned that “misinterpretations are wrong.” Misrepresentations of historical issues have spread in the recent period, and question marks have begun to increase about the extent of France’s sincerity in this regard.” At the same time, he praised the Algerian response, saying: “Algeria has already stated the necessary response to the unacceptable statements made of late by the French president”.