Algeria closed its airspace to French military aircraft on Sunday, a move confirmed by the French military. A spokesperson for the French armed forces stated that Algeria had indeed closed its airspace to French military aircraft. He mentioned, "We had two pre-scheduled flights that we had to postpone, but there will be no significant impact on our operations in the Sahel region."
This decision follows controversial statements attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron, which Algeria described as an interference in its internal affairs. The Algerian presidency issued a statement saying, "In light of the unrefuted statements from various French sources attributed to the French President, Algeria firmly rejects any interference in its internal affairs, as stated in those remarks." It also added, "In response to these irresponsible statements, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune decided to immediately recall the Algerian ambassador to France for consultations."
Local media reported that the decision to recall the ambassador coincided with statements relayed by French press in which Macron criticized Algerian state institutions, specifically the military. The statement emphasized that "these remarks carry an unacceptable offense to the memory of 5,630,000 martyrs who sacrificed their lives in their heroic resistance against French colonial invasion and in the blessed national liberation war," highlighting that "France's colonial crimes in Algeria are countless and fit the definitions of genocide against humanity. These crimes, which are not subject to statute of limitations, should not be manipulated or downplayed."
The presidency considered the "nostalgic tendencies toward French Algeria and the circles that recognize the difficulty of the complete independence achieved by the Algerians through great struggle to be expressed in futile attempts to obscure the horrors and massacres, and the destruction of hundreds of villages reminiscent of the 'Oradour-sur-Glane' incident, and the extermination of tribes of resistors, which are a series of genocidal operations that conceptual maneuvers and political shortcuts will not succeed in hiding."
On another note, the presidency stated that "superficial and approximative assessments regarding the establishment of the Algerian national state and the affirmation of national identity fit within the framework of a trivialized conception of relations between states and cannot, in any case, be compatible with Algeria's firm adherence to the sovereign equality of states."
"This regrettable intervention primarily contradicts the principles that could lead to potential cooperation between Algeria and France regarding memory, promoting a justificatory version of colonialism at the expense of the perspective presented by the legitimate history of national liberation struggles, while no one or nothing can forgive the colonial forces and their crimes, especially the massacres of October 17 in Paris—a date that Algeria and the Algerian community residing in France will commemorate with dignity," the source added.
"Facing this unacceptable situation left by these irresponsible remarks, the President has decided to immediately recall the Algerian ambassador to the French Republic for consultations," concludes the statement.
