During an interview with France 5 on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron warned about the possibility of Turkey meddling in the upcoming presidential election, which is scheduled for 2022. While claiming that Turkey’s actions would “take the form of playing on public opinion”, he did not delve into any further details on how these interferences would manifest themselves.
When asked about the credibility of these threats, the president said, “It is written, and the threats are not veiled. So I think we have to be very clear-headed. I think that this is unbearable … I don’t want to re-engage in a peaceful relationship if there are such manoeuvres going on behind.” He added that the threats were real, and urged French authorities to be “very lucid”.
That being said, however, Macron maintained that he continues to seek a dialogue with Turkey to bring an end to their ongoing tiff. He also acknowledged Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent desire to “re-engage” in their bilateral relationship and highlighted the importance of doing “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.” He further said that Ankara was a crucial NATO ally and a major trading partner, in addition, to being an important stakeholder in Europe’s fight against illegal immigration.
Responding to these remarks, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy released a statement saying, “We find the statements by French President Macron, which he gave in response to the deliberate questions asked in the programme and are against the friendship and alliance between our countries, acceptable.” Further, he called the comments “unfortunate and inconsistent”, specifically at a time where the two countries are seeking to revive their relations.
Bilateral ties between Paris and Ankara have been steadily declining after Erdogan criticised the French president’s decision to pursue significant changes in French laws to combat growing radicalism amongst French Muslims. Following this, Erdoğan has said that Macron’s comments proved that he needed “treatment” and “mental checks.” The statements instigated a diplomatic tiff between the two countries, with the French Foreign Ministry announcing its decision to recall its ambassador to Turkey. The two countries have also been at loggerheads over several issues of international concern including the conflicts in Libya, Syria, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Nevertheless, the two sides have been making attempts to re-engage since the beginning of this year. In January, they exchanged letters and expressed their commitment to reviving friendly ties. On March 2, they also participated in a video call, indicating the possibility of improvement in relations. During this conversation, they agreed to cooperate on several issues including “security, stability, peace efforts from Europe to Caucasus, Mideast, and Africa.” However, Macron’s recent comments are likely to act as another obstacle to the revival of their friendly bilateral relations.
This is not the first time the Erdoğan-led government has been accused of meddling in foreign elections. Previously, the leader had been accused of interfering in the German election in 2017, during which he had called on German-Turkish citizens to refrain from voting for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party.
French President Macron Warns of Turkish Interference in 2022 Election
During an interview with France 5, French President Emmanuel Macron warned about Turkey’s intention to interfere in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled to be conducted in 2022.
March 25, 2021
SOURCE: Soazig de la Moissonniere/Présidence de la République