Paris was quick on Friday to reassure Ankara after President Emmanuel Macron was misquoted as saying that his country would deploy forces in the northern Syrian city of Manbij.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly responded to the French statements, saying that Manbij would be the next target of his forces to liberate the city from Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara also rejected any French mediation between Turkey and the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the YPG, which are considered by Turkey as terrorists.
On Thursday, an SDF delegation including Kurdish officials visited the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Macron told the delegation he hoped to build dialogue between the Democratic Forces and Turkey, with the help of France and the international community, according to a communiqué from the Elysee.
However, Turkey completely dismissed the suggestion, as Erdogan said: "We have no need for mediation... We are extremely saddened by France's... wrong stance on this."
“Those who go to bed with terrorists, or even host them in their palaces, will sooner or later understand the mistake they're making,” Erdogan said in Ankara.
He also warned that Ankara did not need a mediator.
"Who are you to mediate between Turkey and a terror group?" Erdogan said at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the capital, Ankara.
According to the Elysee, Macron reaffirmed the priority of the battle against “the terrorist threat” and assured France's support to the SDF, particularly in stabilizing the security zone in northeast Syria “to prevent the resurgence of ISIS while awaiting a political solution to the Syrian conflict.”
The French show of support to Kurds is not new. Macron was the first Western leader to warn against the possibility of the Turkish operation in Afrin turning into an “invasion of Syrian territories.”
