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Macron: “Turkey shows bellicose behavior towards NATO partners”
French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Turkey of “warlike behavior” towards its NATO partners in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. “I notice that Turkey has imperialist tendencies in the region. And I think these imperialist tendencies are not a good thing for the region, “Macron told the Arab station Al-Jazeera. The interview was published by the Elysee Palace on Saturday. Relations between France and Turkey are tense.
Macron referred to the development in Syria: when the war against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia came to a victorious end, Turkey marched to fight the Kurds. In Libya, Ankara does not adhere to the Berlin conference agreements and has broken an embargo several times. “I think these two examples alone show that Turkey is displaying warlike behavior today towards its NATO allies.”
The behavior against Cyprus and Greece in the eastern Mediterranean is also “deeply aggressive”. Turkey is looking for natural gas there. Macron said that Cyprus and Greece are European countries. France supports “the sovereignty of Europe” and cannot accept the strategy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As an ally, you have to say things openly. He wanted things to calm down and for Turkey to respect French and European values.
Erdogan did not respond to the interview in two appearances on Sunday. The relationship between the two heads of state has been strained for weeks. The Turkish president has called for a boycott of French products in the dispute over the Mohammed cartoons. The occasion was Macron’s declaration that freedom of expression also includes publishing cartoons. The satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” had sparked protests in parts of the Muslim world with new cartoons of Muhammad.
French President Al-Jazeera said he respected the sentiments raised by the publication. But he also reaffirmed his position that the drawings are protected by freedom of expression. “In France the press is free.” After three terrorist attacks in recent weeks with multiple deaths, Macron said that France is fighting terrorism committed in the name of Islam, but not Islam itself.
An attacker brutally murdered three people in the metropolis of Nice in southern France on Thursday. The sacristan and two women were fatally injured in the knife attack on a church. For France, it is the third attack with an alleged Islamist origin in just two months. In late September, two people were injured in a knife attack not far from Charlie Hebdo’s office in Paris. In mid-October, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old assailant. (sda / dpa)
