From Turkey, Tebboune changes his tone on the Sahara issue

Abdelmadjid Tebboune stated during a press interview on the sidelines of the first session of the Algerian-Turkish Strategic Cooperation Council held yesterday in Ankara that he discussed the Sahara issue with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Tebboune said the talks addressed «the situations in Libya and the Sahel region, as well as the Western Sahara issue», adding that «the analyses of these files were clear and positive, highlighting Algeria and Turkey’s commitment to peaceful solutions in resolving conflicts and respecting international legitimacy».

A few days earlier, in his regular media interview, Tebboune had also referred to «a United Nations decision (Security Council Resolution 2797) that is progressing without obstacles between us and them», in reference to Morocco.

These statements mark a noticeable shift in Tebboune’s rhetoric on the conflict. In the past, he had repeatedly stressed that the only solution was a «referendum on self-determination» and that negotiations should remain limited to the two parties to the conflict: Morocco and the Polisario Front.

Algeria had previously described Resolution 2797, adopted by the UN Security Council on October 31, as «biased». The resolution states that granting Western Sahara «genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty may be the most realistic solution» to the conflict. Algeria abstained from the vote.

At the time, Algerian authorities argued that the resolution «does not meet the legitimate aspirations of the Sahrawi people for self-determination, nor does it accurately reflect the UN doctrine of decolonization»