Holland To Bouteflika: “Your Message Strengthens Our Friendship”

French President, Francois Hollande, informed his Algerian counterpart, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, that he is personally affected by the letter that was sent by him after the French Nice attacks, where 84 people died.

Bouteflika’s letter to Hollande confirmed Algeria’s support for France in its ordeal.

Hollande’s letter to Bouteflika, on Friday, read: “I was personally affected by Algeria’s support which expressed, following the terrible terrorist attack that hit France in its core in Nice on the National Day celebrations. I would like to thank you very much. The friendship letter that you sent to us and the international solidarity towards our country have precious support that reinforced the cohesion between us, our friendship and our determination”.

French President said; “In front of this heinous act, our sympathy is heading first to the French and foreign victims and their families. Values ​​of France which are human rights and freedom are targeted again”.

“Nothing can deter us from continuing our fight against terrorism, and it is a long battle, but through wrapping around the principles that we defend and remain faithful to the spirit of the July 14 Revolution, and we will always continue to be stronger than those extremists”.

According to the first message that was sent by President Bouteflika, following the attacks of Nice: “I have learned with deep indignation the news of the heinous terrorist attack that hit France, in the city of Nice, with dozens of deaths and the number of injuries. Algeria severely condemns this barbaric act and declare again its conviction that terrorism has no nationality nor religion, and does not recognise borders, and the international community calls for addressing this phenomenon amid a concrete solidarity under the supervision of the United Nations Organisation”.

Letters that are exchanged between the Presidents of the two countries break the stalemate which characterises the relationships between Algeria and France, and the latest where included in the response of the Foreign Minister, Ramtane Lamamra, to a question by a Member of Parliament, who wondered on how to allow the Israeli journalist, Gideon Coates, to accompany the French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls to Algeria, a few months ago, as Lamamra confirmed that Algeria protested to France because of the journalist Gideon, especially as he visited Algeria with French passport, and that it is accredited by the French media company, and before that the French company “Total” which resorts to international arbitration against Sonatrach, because of the commercial disputes between them, as the observers resort to international arbitration due to the loss of privileges for the French in the Algerian oil market, a hypothesis that is confirmed by the former Energy Minister, Chakib Khelil in video recordings that were published on Facebook.

Memory file is still presenting a point of difference between the two countries, which was expressed by the Minister of Mujahideen, Tayeb Zitouni, who said, “I can say that there will not be a natural and normal relationships with France, but through addressing the file of national memory and history, including the archive, the missing and compensation, especially those that are related to the bombings in the south of Algeria, so if the intention of France is sincere in working with Algeria in accordance with the principle of peer to peer, and it can only be by addressing the this file definitively.”

But the French, and in the words of their ambassador to Algeria, Bernard Emié, see the opposite, when they defend the strengthening of the relationship between the two countries, for the political or economic levels, and in the memory file. 

“Relationships of the two countries notice the application of the proverbe, politics generate from the meeting of memory with desire, recording that the relationship between the two countries is emotional, heated and interesting”.