Algeria demands from France that it hand over "
all
" of the archives of the colonial period (1830-1962) concerning it, said Monday (December 21st) the director of the Algerian archives, Abdelmadjid Chikhi.
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Chikhi was commissioned in July by Algerian President Abselmadjid Tebboune to work on the memory of colonization and the Algerian War, together with French historian Benjamin Stora.
"
Algeria is claiming all of its archives, a large part of which is in France, which has always put forward false pretexts, such as the declassification of a number of archives which have been collected for several decades,
" he said. declared.
"
The Algerian side's demands are clear and do not require consultation,
" said the director of the national archives, adding that "
the question is immutable because the past cannot be erased or forgotten
".
"
We are working to make it part of peaceful and balanced relations
" to be built between the two countries, he added, during a press conference at the headquarters of public radio in Algiers.
Chikhi also criticized the French legislation on public archives, stipulating that they are "
inalienable and imprescriptible
", considering that this file "
subject to negotiations, is not yet closed
".
France returned to Algeria part of the archives it kept, but it kept the part concerning colonial history and which, according to it, falls under the sovereignty of the French state.
Access to the archives of the colonization, moved to France after the independence of Algeria in 1962, is one of the main demands of the Algerian veterans.
