When the operation against the suspects of the bloody attack on the “Charlie Hebdo” magazine at Paris started, we said among us, “Apparently, they won’t catch them alive again, and once again, many questions will be left unanswered”. The operation also resulted in that way. Neither the culprits of the Charlie Hebdo attack, nor the perpetrator of the hostage incident were caught alive. Not so long ago, the culprits of some other attacks were caught dead and left behind unanswered questions.
While “PEGIDA” activists are continuing their campaigns against Islam in Germany, the racist-exclusionist expressions towards the Muslim immigrants were ongoing in France. Right before the Charlie Hebdo attack, the French press was shaking with a series of books and TV programs about immigrants. The debates were centered on “the scale of the threat created by the Muslim immigrants towards France.” There were even people that said that French citizen immigrants should be told to return to their homes.
Between those immigrants, Algerians were topping the list. Algerians were followed by “Maghrebians”, Moroccans and Tunisians. It’s being stated that in France there are 6 million Algerians. In 1830, Algeria had been invaded and colonized by France. Simultaneously, or a bit later, Morocco, and then in 1881, Tunisia had been colonized. According to the French, Algeria was “French Algeria” and should have stayed like that. When President Charles de Gaulle had said that France should get out of Algeria and had sat down at the table with the leaders of the resistance, he became a target of assassination attempts by the right-wing powers within the military for being a “traitor”. The French generals in Algeria even tried to seize the administration in Paris.
The French invasion of Algeria continued till 1962. During that period, migration from Algeria to France continued. After Algeria gained independency, tens of thousands of Algerian families, that adopted the French administration and culture, migrated to France. The conditions of the Algerians, who are called “Harki”, were no different from the others. The feelings of being excluded from the French community are also valid for the French citizen “Harkis” who have been living in France for generations.
The number of people, who are demanding exclusionist, discriminatory and racist expressions towards Muslim immigrants to be turned into a government policy, is gradually increasing. There is no need to say that these expressions are creating unrest among the immigrants, especially Algerians. At the beginning of December, a draft resolution, which requested Palestine to be recognized by the state, was confirmed by the French Parliament. Following that, the debates, which raised attention to the threat represented by the Muslim immigrants, had started to be re-staged. Right at this point, the attack on Charlie Hebdo happened. As for the culprits of the attack being Algerian-rooted French citizens, it must be a coincidence!
When we look at the matter from the point of development that might be caused by the Charlie Hebdo attack, the “usual suspects” are not sufficient to explain the situation all the time. Regardless of what motivation, or, regardless of which organization, the bloody attacks are conducted, within the string of serpentine, mixed relations; the list of usual suspects can vary. As much as serving the objective of an organization, a murder can also be useful for another organization’s objectives also. Transverse relations are in the nature of any kind of organization that is in business underground. When the culprits are caught dead, what else can you say?
