Relations with France will not be normal until memory and history issue is settled

Algerian war veterans’ minister Tayeb Zitouni Thursday said relations between Algeria and France will not be « normal » unless the issue of national memory and history is treated.

The minister said political and economic relations exist between Algeria and France but the sensitive issue is still memory and history. “There will be no normal relations with France without the treatment of the issue of national memory and history. This includes archives, missing people and indemnity.”

He told a national radio channel that no progress was made in the operation of recovering Algeria’s archives from France. 

He said more than 2,000 were reported missing while France tries to give a smaller number.

Speaking about war veterans’ skulls, Zitouni said this issue shows the horror of the French colonization which put the skulls in a museum.