Turkey calls on France to recognize its colonial past
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The Turkish Foreign Ministry is calling on France to acknowledge the consequence of its colonial past without blaming other nations.
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Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic
The Turkish Foreign Ministry is calling on France to acknowledge the consequence of its colonial past without blaming other nations, ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said on Saturday.
According to Turkish media, during his recent visit to Algeria, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed the existence of networks in Turkey, Russia, and China that demonstrate neocolonialist and imperialist aspirations and act against France in Africa.
See this: Russia is one of the last imperial colonial powers: Macron
"We hope that France will reach as soon as possible the maturity to face its colonial past without blaming other countries, including Turkiye," Bilgic said in a statement.
The ministry stressed that Macron's remarks against Turkey were unacceptable and drew attention to the developing beneficial relations between Algeria and Turkey.
"If France supposes that there are reactions against it in the African continent, it should search for the source of these reactions in its colonial past and its efforts to still pursue this with different methods and it must try to repair it," the document read, adding that "to claim that these reactions are caused by the activities of third countries, instead of confronting and solving the problems related to their own past, is not only to deny a sociological phenomenon and history but also reflects the distorted mentality of some politicians."
Read more: Mali's ex-colonizer, France, 'fully withdraws'
France retained its colonies in Africa roughly until the 1960s, exercising its dominance over North, Western, and Equatorial Africa. Shortly after the formation of the Fifth French Republic in 1958, countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Congo, Chad, and the Central African Republic gained independence.
Despite this fact, Paris failed to completely abandon the region, continuing to intervene in internal affairs of the region, including by military means, prompting states like Mali to demand its complete withdrawal and non-interference.
What happened in Mali?
Mali has been under threat from terrorists since 2012 and has witnessed two military coups since 2020.
Colonels angry at the government's handling of the long-running insurgency seized power in August 2020, then carried out another coup in May the following year.
The junta that came to power in August 2020 has had sharp tensions with France, which had sent troops to its former colony in what many saw as a bid to still have a foothold in the country.
The Malian people have a profound sentiment of resentment toward France that, during about 10 years of its military presence in Mali, failed to achieve any tangible achievements in terms of the country's security, political instability, and economic issues.
As a result, Paris lost the legal basis for carrying out military operations in Mali after the West African nation withdrew from defense agreements with France, the Malian government had said.
On July 22, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian and African partners are working on reducing, though gradually, trade in the US dollar and the euro in mutual trade payments.
Russia has long advocated for the establishment of an independent and efficient financial system independent from the SWIFT system that is "proof against the potential impact from the unfriendly States."
Moscow has continued to fulfill its obligations to supply food, fertilizers, and energy to African countries, regardless of western sanctions.
It has also supplied Mali with several warplanes and helicopters with the intent to fight off a jihadist campaign that began in the north of the country in 2012.
The attacks have spread to the center and south of Mali and into Niger and Burkina Faso. Across the region, thousands of people have died and more than two million have fled their homes.
Where France has failed secure its credibility, Russia succeeded beyond expectations.
Relations between Africa and France are yet to further unfold ahead of deepening tensions between the West and Russia.
Read more: Burkina Faso protests against French presence, demands expulsion
