According to Erdogan, “Macron is a problem for France”

Relations between France and Turkey should not experience any imminent “warming”. After participating in the prayer this Friday, December 4 in the former Saint Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul, Turkish Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that he hoped that “France will get rid of the Macron problem. as soon as possible “. “Macron is a problem for France. With Macron, France is going through a very dangerous period, ”he also told reporters.

Relations between Turkey and France have gradually deteriorated since last year, due in particular to disagreements over Syria, Libya, the eastern Mediterranean and, more recently, the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno -Karabakh. But tensions were heightened in October, when Recep Tayyip Erdogan questioned Emmanuel Macron’s “sanity”, accusing him of carrying out a “hate campaign” against Islam for defending the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad and for his speech against Islamist “separatism” in France.

France “has lost its role of mediator”

The Turkish president said on Friday that France, which co-chairs the so-called Minsk group responsible for promoting a settlement to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, had “lost its role of mediator” after the Senate and the National Assembly French adopted resolutions favorable to recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh. “My dear friend Aliev (Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev) gave the French advice telling them that, if they love the Armenians so much, they just have to give them Marseille. I too give them the same advice, ”he added.

In an apparent allusion to the actions of the Turkish government and their consequences, Emmanuel Macron said in September that “the Turkish people, who are a great people, deserve something else”. Ankara reacted strongly to the remarks, which he saw as an attempt to pit the Turkish people against President Erdogan.