Erdogan Warns French President Macron: "Do Not Mess with Turkey"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned French President Emmanuel Macron, saying, "Do not mess with Turkey and the Turkish people."

According to the Guardian and other sources on the 12th (local time), President Erdogan made this statement during a broadcast speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1980 coup. This remark came in response to President Macron's criticism on the 10th at the Southern Europe 7-country summit, where he said, "I will not recognize Turkey as a partner in the Eastern Mediterranean."

President Erdogan criticized, saying, "President Macron lacks historical knowledge," and added, "France is not qualified to talk about humanitarianism." He pointed out the Algerian and Rwandan genocides, stating, "Because of France, 1 million people lost their lives in Algeria and 800,000 in Rwanda."

He continued, "President Macron, you will fight with me even more," and fiercely criticized, "You already have no time left and are on the verge of collapse." This is interpreted as a remark conscious of the upcoming French presidential election scheduled for 2022.

Turkey is in confrontation with Greece, Cyprus, France, and Italy over natural resources in the Eastern Mediterranean near the island of Cyprus. President Macron has pressured Turkey, saying, "We Europeans need to show a clear stance to the Turkish government, which is acting in an unacceptable manner today."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.