ERDOGAN HOPES FRANCE ‘GETS RID OF MACRON TROUBLE’

Sat 05 December 2020:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he hopes France will “get rid” of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron as soon as possible, in the latest salvo in an escalating war of words between the two leaders.

“Macron is a trouble for France. With Macron, France is passing through a very, very dangerous period. I hope that France will get rid of Macron trouble as soon as possible,” Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.

Ties between Turkey and France have been particularly tense in recent months over policy differences on Syria and the publishing of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in France.

After Macron in October said Islam was a religion “in crisis” globally, Erdogan joined a call by Muslims across the world to boycott French products.

That same month, Erdogan said his French counterpart needed “mental health checks” over his attitude towards Muslims.

Ankara and Paris have also traded accusations about their roles in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and clash on the Libyan crisis and the conflict between Greece and Turkey on Eastern Mediterranean exploration rights.