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The sharp new controversy between Turkish Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Frenchman Emmanuel Macron in the context of the latter’s statements on Islam, with Erdogan saying on Saturday that the French president needs to “examine his mental health.”
On Saturday, the French presidency denounced Erdogan’s statements as “unacceptable” against Macron.
In a comment to France Press, he said: “President Erdogan’s statements are unacceptable. Escalating rhetoric and vulgarity are not a way to negotiate.”
He added: “We ask Erdogan to change the course of his policy because he is dangerous from all angles. We will not enter into sterile discussions and we will not accept insults.”
And Paris announced that its ambassador in Ankara was summoned for consultations.
Far from the dispute over Islam, there is a raging conflict between Markon and Erdogan over maritime rights in the eastern Mediterranean, conflict files in Libya, Syria, and most recently the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region in Azerbaijan.
“What can you say about a head of state who treats millions of followers of different religions in this way? First of all: check your mental health,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in the city of Kayseri.
Macron’s proposal to protect his country’s secular values from followers of extremist Islamic currents enraged the Turkish government.
Macron described Islam this month as a religion in “crisis” around the world and indicated that the government would introduce a bill in December to toughen a law passed in 1905 that formally separates the church and the state in France.
He also announced stricter supervision of schools and better control over external funding of mosques, after a militant beheaded a French teacher who had shown insulting accusations to the Prophet Muhammad.
On Saturday, the French presidency noted “the absence of messages of condolence and support from the Turkish president after the assassination of Samuel Patti (the teacher).”
Turkey is a predominantly Muslim but secular country, and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but not part of the European Union, whose application for membership has been pending for decades due to a number of controversial files.
And Erdogan added: “What is the problem of the so-called Macron with Islam and Muslims?”
“Macron needs a mental exam,” he added.
The Turkish president also hoped that Macron would not achieve good results in the 2022 presidential elections.
“You are constantly harassing Erdogan. He will not help you,” he said.
“There will be elections (in France) … We will see his fate. I don’t think he still has much time ahead of him. Why? Because he did not achieve anything for France,” he said.
Get behind disasters
The most recent differences between the two leaders emerged in the record of the conflict in the Nagorno Karabakh region, which is inhabited by the majority of Armenia, and declared their separation from Azerbaijan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which led to war. from the early nineties that left 30 thousand dead.
Macron asked Turkey this month to provide explanations about the arrival of jihadist fighters in Azerbaijan, according to him, saying that “a red line has been crossed.”
For his part, Erdogan accused France, which leads the Minsk Group with Russia and the United States, of “being behind the disasters and the occupation in Azerbaijan.”
He went to Paris and said: “You are part of the Minsk Trio. What have you done so far? Have you saved the Azerbaijani lands from occupation? No. Just send weapons to the Armenians.”
“Do you think you are going to restore peace with the weapons you are sending to the Armenians? You cannot because you are not honest,” he added.
Turkey supports Azerbaijan in the conflict, which has claimed hundreds of lives since its resumption in late September.
“I spoke with (Azerbaijani President Ilham) Aliyev this morning,” Erdogan revealed. “Now the Azerbaijani brothers are advancing on the occupied lands. They have started to take them back,” he said.
