This is RFI information. Two months after a first meeting in Algeria, the Franco-Algerian commission of historians will meet next Thursday in Paris. At the end of this meeting, the ten members of the commission will visit different institutions for several days.
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The Algerian delegation recently received the green light from the El Mouradia palace to participate in this meeting.
Algerian historians, headed by Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi, had expressed the wish that the meeting could take place in the provinces, Aix-en-Provence or Marseille for example, two cities which host a large number of Algerian archives. But for practical reasons, the meeting will ultimately take place in Paris.
The Élysée confirms that the meeting will take place on Thursday January 25 at the National Archives. A very symbolic place. Because the question of archives will, as often, be at the heart of the discussions. The restitution by France of a certain number of pieces should thus be addressed, as should the digitization of civil status registers and French cemeteries in Algeria. Points already raised in November in Constantine.
This meeting is precisely in line with this last meeting. A meeting at the end of which the commission made 11 proposals to the French and Algerian presidents, indicates the Élysée, including the restitution of human remains and symbolic property. On the sidelines of this meeting, specifies the presidential palace, the members of the commission will make numerous visits to archive centers and museums for a week and a half.
The commission, the creation of which was announced in the summer of 2022 by Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Algiersis composed of five Algerian historians and five French historians. It is co-chaired by Mohamed Lahcen Zeghidi, former director of the National Mujahid Museum, and Benjamin Stora.
Also listen: Benjamin Stora“I have always advocated for gestures of a concrete, symbolic nature”