ALGERIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT TO BE BUILT IN TURKEY
By Cihan News Agency

Zaman, Turkey
Nov 22 2006

The municipality of Bandirma, a northwestern Turkish city, has approved
a proposal to build a monument to victims of the Algerian Genocide
in the town in protest the adoption of the controversial Armenian
bill in the French parliament.

The proposal was submitted to the mayor during a municipal assembly
meeting and has been approved unanimously.

Bandirma Mayor Cemal Oztaylan said that they had asked for help from
the Algerian Embassy in Ankara on how to address the genocide in the
best way. Oztaylan remarked that the embassy would respond to their
request in a month.

The mayor of the town noted that some citizens applied to the
municipality to make donations for the construction of the monument,
adding that their application would be evaluated.

On Oct. 12, French National Assembly passed a bill which criminalized
denying the so-called Armenian genocide, which they claimed the
Ottoman Empire committed against Armenians during World War I.

Interestingly enough, France does not recognize the claims of genocide
which the French committed against the Algerians in the second half
of the 20th century.

"Sons don’t apologize for their fathers’ mistakes" French Interior
Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said during an official visit to Algeria last
week, in response to the Algerian government, which urged France to
apologize for the killings and suffering during 130 years of French
colonial rule.