President Emmanuel Macron asserted that Turkey would try to interfere France’s next presidential elections, extending his running feud with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Macron’s remarks on the France 5 TV channel were unacceptable.
Ministry Spokesman Hami Aksoy called the claims “dangerous” and said Turkey’s only interest in French domestic politics concerned the well-being of Turks who lived in France.
“We find the claim made by Mr. Macron in such decisive terms ... to be alienating toward foreign communities in the country and thus dangerous in this aspect,” Aksoy said.
“Turkey has no agenda regarding France’s interior politics apart from the welfare, peace and harmony of the 800,000-strong Turkish community living in that country,” he said.
“Very clearly last autumn there was a politics of lies. Lies of the state, lies spread by media controlled by the Turkish state,” Macron said.
“Obviously, by manipulating public opinion ... there would be attempts to interfere with the next election,” Macron said. France is scheduled to hold a presidential election next year.
This is not the first-time western European leaders accuse Erdogan of engaging in such activities. In 2017, he came under criticism when he asked German citizens of Turkish origin to vote against parties supporting chancellor Angela Merkel.
On a more positive note, the French leader emphasized the importance of maintaining dialogue with Turkey.
“We must do absolutely everything to ensure that Turkey does not turn its back on Europe and move towards more religious extremism, geopolitical choices that are even more dangerous or negative for us,” Macron added.
Spokesperson for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Omer Celik told reporters on Macron’s remarks that such an approach “shadows bilateral relations” and does not comply with “constructive speaking”.
