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He expected the French to “get rid of their head of state” as soon as possible, Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday. Macron reacts reluctantly.
Against the background of mounting tensions between Ankara and Paris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched another verbal coup against French President Emmanuel Macron. He expected the French to get rid of their head of state “as soon as possible,” Erdogan said Friday. “Macron is a problem for France,” he told reporters in Istanbul. “With Macron, France is living in a very dangerous time.”
With Macron as president, he sees no way to get rid of the yellow vest protest movement in France, Erdogan said. “The yellow vests could become red vests,” he warned without going into detail about what he meant by that.
Macron reacted cautiously to the new attacks from Ankara. In an interview with the online platform Brut on Friday he said: “I believe in respect. Insults between political leaders are not a good method.”
Relationships get worse
Relations between Turkey and France have deteriorated more and more since last year. The triggers were, among other things, the dispute over gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean and the fighting over the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Turkey intervened militarily on the Azerbaijani side.
As part of the so-called Minsk Group, France failed to find a peaceful solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Finally an armistice was reached with the mediation of Russia. Last month the French Senate passed a non-binding resolution asking the Paris government to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.
Erdogan later accused France of having given up its “mediator role” in the conflict. He reiterated a mocking comment from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that France should cede its city of Marseille to Armenia if it was so eager to create a new state.
Violent exchange of blows
Tensions between Paris and Ankara reached their preliminary climax in late October when Macron announced further action against “radical Islam” in France after several Islamist attacks.
Erdogan recommended Macron in response to having him “have his mental health checked.” He called on the Turkish population to boycott French products.
(APA / AFP)
