The Turkey of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not need to be asked to castigate the France of President Emmanuel Macron with whom he has trouble. And yet, whether it likes it or not, Turkey, or at least the heiress of the Ottoman Empire, is an integral part of these former Colonizers of Africa whom it arrogates to itself the right to castigate by skillfully attempting to to exclude from the circle of former Colonizers.
During President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Algeria, a controversy over colonization turned into a politico-diplomatic conflict between France and Turkey. The two countries even send press releases to each other's faces as in a battle of ragpickers.
At the end of his visit to the Christian and Jewish cemetery of Bologhine (ex-Saint-Eugène) in Algiers, Emmanuel Macro undoubtedly saw fit to shoot a few arrows at these countries which do not spare France. By inviting the Algerian and African youth to "not get carried away" by the "huge manipulation" of "social medias" controlled "underhand" by foreign powers who present France as "the enemy". And to name in passing Turkey, Russia and China.
Turkey's reaction was not long in coming the next day, August 27, 2022. Through his Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Tanju Bilgic, the diplomat declared at a press conference from Ankara that he is "extremely regrettable that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, made statements targeting Turkey, as well as other countries, during his visit to Algeria”. And Tanju Bilgic added that: "It is unacceptable that French President Macron, having trouble facing his colonial past in Africa, particularly in Algeria, tries to get rid of it by launching accusations against other countries, including Turkey ".
Emmanuel Macron then continued: “The construction of Algeria as a nation is a phenomenon to watch. Was there an Algerian nation before French colonization? That is the question. There were previous colonizations. Personally, I am fascinated by Turkey's ability to completely forget the role it played in Algeria and the domination it exercised. And to explain that we are the only colonizers, it's great. The Algerians believe in it”.
If it is true that France must confront its colonial past in Africa, it is no less true that Turkey should do so too. And not only in Algeria, but in Sudan too. And it is not only France that must repair its colonial past in Africa. Turkey must do it too. Instead of spending most of her time wanting to be forgotten through a populism that castigates others and that only the countries she has not colonized can be sensitive. When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Turkey claims the heritage of the Ottoman Empire which seized Algeria for three centuries,
It is true that between Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, relations have always been tense. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went so far as to question Emmanuel Macron's sanity, pointing an accusing finger at him when he supported press freedom through the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad. To the point of being treated by President Erdoğan for leading a campaign of hatred against Islam, while calling for a boycott of French products.
But from there to thus easily exempt oneself from the misdeeds of Colonization and by charging France solely on the question, this is a discourse reserved for those who are not informed about Turkey's past, the era of the Ottoman Empire.
By Abdul Yazid
