Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said he hopes France will soon get rid of President Emmanuel Macron, describing him as a burden on France which was enduring dangerous times.
“Macron is a burden on France. Macron and France are going through a very dangerous period actually. My hope is that France gets rid of the Macron trouble as soon as possible,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers.
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.
