Algerian groups learn from past protest experiences

By Fahri Aksut

ANKARA (AA) - Anti-government protesters and the government officials in Algeria avoid violence by taking a lesson from past bitter experiences, according to the Director of Middle Eastern Studies Center (ORSAM) Ahmet Uysal.

Uysal spoke at The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, which held a panel on the latest development in Algeria in the Turkish capital Friday and said when the Arab Spring began, the anti-protests in Algeria followed revolutionist way, therefore, it was severe

While some demonstrations against governments and regimes in the Middle East and North Africa caused destruction, some led to democratic reforms.

He stressed ongoing protests follow reformist methods, therefore, demonstrations continue in peace.

"The anti-government protesters and the government officials in Algeria avoid violence by taking a lesson from the past bitter experiences," he said.

-Abdelmadjid Tebboune is constitutionally the legal president of Algeria

Abdennour Toumi, north African studies expert of ORSAM, explained Algerians still protest the government although there was an overthrow of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in recent elections.

Toumi said despite the current president was elected in democratically, Algerians see him as a president under the influence of the military.

He said despite Abdelmadjid Tebboune is constitutionally the legal president, Algerians think he is a weak president and still a part of the old system.

He also stressed that the influences of France in the protests is an undeniable fact due to geographical and historical reasons.

There are a serious number of French supporters in the Algerian military who are uncomfortable with peaceful demonstrations, he said.

People and the military should develop nationalism and patriotism by working together to ensure stability, he said.

- Intelligence service and military

Enver Apa, a lecturer in Ankara University, said Algerians are uncomfortable with interventions of the military and intelligence services.

Algerians is a nation loyal to freedom and independence, therefore, it would not allow any intervention, he said.

He added that people though all candidates in the last elections were determined by the military, Algerians protested the elections by not participating.

People want a renewal of the elections due to the intervention of the military and the strong links of the current president with the former president and the military, he said.

- Arab Spring's background

The democratization of the Arab world started when Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian engineer who was working as a street vendor due to unemployment, attempted suicide by setting his body on fire Dec. 17, 2010.

Following his death Jan. 4, 2011, mass demonstrations began. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year despotic regime fell 10 days later on Jan. 14, with the completion of the Jasmine Revolution.

Developments in Tunisia triggered uprisings in other Arab countries. Starting a huge wave of protests in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain, the Tunisian revolution became a catalyst for regime falls in Syria and Yemen, and regime transitions in Egypt and Libya.

In addition, smaller scale demonstrations, rebellions and armed conflicts were witnessed in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman and Mauritania.

Protests continued in various countries after the first wave.

There have been regime changes as a result of these activities in the last year in Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria and Sudan.

Mass protests in Egypt against the government, while failing to demolish it, certainly weakened the despotic regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Some spectators label the new wave of protests as the second wave of the Arab Spring.

- Relationships between Algeria and France

On the other hand, uprisings initiated by those fighting for France in world wars with the promise of independence were violently suppressed.

The five-century colonial period and wars of independence in the region killed more than 2 million Africans.

Thousands of Algerians were killed by French soldiers in demonstrations initiated by Algerians fighting in the French ranks with the promise of independence shortly before the end of World War II.

Violence continued in a systematic way until 1962, when Algeria gained its independence from events known as Setif and Guelma massacre on May 8, 1945.

Around 1.5 million people died in the Algerian War of Independence due to French intervention.

Since 1830, it is known that France massacred Algerian society through cultural genocide.

France destroyed 300 years of Ottoman history and Algeria's own local identity, transforming many cultural and religious works in the country at its own discretion.

While the French government has not officially apologized to Algeria for its colonial policies, Algeria’s Ministry of Mujahideen stated that four “files” concerning the colonial and post-colonial periods are still open between the two countries, including the recovery of the skulls of martyrs and national resistance leaders from a museum.

France also refuses to give back an Algerian archive containing hundreds of documents and works.