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Against the background of mounting tensions between Ankara and Paris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again criticized French President Emmanuel Macron. He expected the French to get rid of their head of state “as soon as possible,” Erdogan said on 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. “Yellow vests could become red vests,” he warned too, without going into what he meant by that.
“Insults between political leaders are not a good method”
Macron reacted cautiously to the new attacks from Ankara. In an interview with the online platform »Brut«, he said on Friday: «I believe in respect. Insults between political leaders are not a good method. “
Relations between Turkey and France have deteriorated more and more since last year. Triggers included the dispute over gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean and fighting over the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Turkey intervened militarily on the side of Azerbaijan.
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.
Tensions escalated after Islamist attacks
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.
Tensions between Paris and Ankara reached their preliminary climax in late October when Macron announced, after several Islamist attacks, that he would step up action against “radical Islam” in France.
In response, Erdogan recommended that Macron have a “mental health check.” He called on the Turkish population to boycott French products.
