France is recalling its ambassador to Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron "needs mental treatment," officials told AFP Saturday.
Why it matters: The action by France is highly unusual. It comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two NATO allies. Erdoğan's comments were in response to Macron's reaction to the killing of a teacher near Paris, who'd shown students cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammed during a classroom discussion.
- Macron described the beheading earlier this month as an "Islamist terrorist attack" and defended the teaching of freedom of expression in the secular country.
What they're saying: "What can one say about a head of state who treats millions of members from different faith groups this way: first of all, have mental checks," Erdoğan said in a televised address in Kayseri, in the Central Anatolia Region of the overwhelmingly Muslim but secular country, per the Guardian.
- "What’s the problem of the individual called Macron with Islam and with the Muslims? Macron needs mental treatment."
The other side: "President Erdoğan's comments are unacceptable," a French official said to AFP.
- "Excess and rudeness are not a method. We demand that Erdoğan change the course of his policy because it is dangerous in every respect."
Of note: The two countries have also clashed in recent months on the conflict in Syria, the deadly clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and an arms embargo on Libya.
