International
Macron Accused Of Sponsoring Terrorism
Turkey’s foreign minister has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of being a “sponsor of terrorism”, dismissing the French leader’s criticism of Turkey’s Syria offensive.
Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that Mr Macron wanted to be the leader of Europe but was “wobbling”.
Last month Mr Macron hosted a senior official from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Turkey views a section of the group – the YPG – as terrorists.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Macron said he stood by comments made three weeks ago when he described Nato as “brain dead”.
He said members of the alliance needed a “wake-up call” as they were no longer co-operating on a range of key issues.
He also criticised Nato’s failure to respond to the offensive by Turkey – a Nato member – in northern Syria.
Addressing reporters in parliament on Thursday, Mr Cavusoglu said: “He [Macron] is already the sponsor of the terrorist organisation and constantly hosts them at the Elysee. If he says his ally is the terrorist organisation… there is really nothing more to say.
“Right now, there is a void in Europe, [Macron] is trying to be its leader, but leadership comes naturally.”
Turkey was angered when Mr Macron held talks in Paris on 8 October with SDF spokeswoman Jihane Ahmed.
Mr Macron’s office said the meeting was to express France’s solidarity with the SDF in its fight against the Islamic State group and also to reiterate concerns about the prospect of a Turkish military operation in Syria.
A day later, Turkey launched an offensive in northern Syria to create a “safe zone” cleared of Kurdish militias.
Ties between Turkey and its Nato allies have been under strain since Ankara bought the advanced Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system earlier this year.
Mr Macron was speaking at a news conference with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in the week before alliance leaders meet in the UK for its 70th anniversary.
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