The French president Emmanuel Macron has accused Turkey of adopting a “bellicose” stance towards its NATO allies, saying tensions could ease if his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan showed respect and did not tell lies.
In an interview with al-Jazeera broadcast on Saturday, Macron condemned Turkey’s behaviour in Syria, Libya and the Mediterranean and said: “Turkey has a bellicose attitude towards its NATO allies.”
He also sought to calm flaring tensions with Muslims around the world after increasingly heated rhetoric following the murder of French school teacher, Samuel Paty, who showed caricatures of the prophet Muhammad alongside other cartoons as part of a discussion on free speech.
Macron said that France’s wish was that things “calm down” but for this to happen, it was essential that the “Turkish president respects France, respects the European Union, respects its values, does not tell lies and does not utter insults”.
He noted that France had offered its condolences to Turkey following the deadly earthquake in the Aegean and had also offered to send help to the scene. » | Agence France-Presse | Sunday, November 1, 2020
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