Paris (AFP)
The France-Turkey qualifier at Euro 2020 on Monday night must be canceled, UDI President Jean-Christophe Lagarde pleaded, deploring the Turkish players' salute in a previous match while Ankara launched an offensive against Kurdish positions in northeastern Syria.
It is with such a bow that players of the Turkey team celebrated on Friday a goal against Albania in qualifying for Euro-2020.
"We can not decently welcome tomorrow at the Stade de France those who salute the massacre of our Kurdish allies!" Tweeted Sunday evening Mr. Lagarde, matching his tweet of the hashtag "#AnnulationMatchFranceTurquie" and a photo showing the players by train to make this hello.
"With this military salute, the Turkish football team has unfortunately broken the border that must separate sport from politics," he said.
UEFA's press chief Philip Townsend said on Sunday that the European football confederation would "examine" the gesture, saying he did not see it but recalling that the regulation "prohibits references to politics and religion".
On the eve of the France-Turkey match played at the Stade de France in a tense diplomatic context and where many Turkish fans are expected, the Turkish Sports Minister and the Turkish ambassador called on Sunday to "friendship", to the "fraternity" and "courtesy".
Lagarde, who is also chairman of the Kurdish National Assembly Study Group, is also organizing a large gathering of support for the Kurds on Tuesday evening at the Théâtre du Gymnase, in the presence of intellectuals and political and associative leaders, according to a statement.
Turkey on Wednesday launched an offensive in northern Syria against a Kurdish militia, two days after the United States withdrew troops deployed in parts of northern Syria just on the border with Turkey.
© 2019 AFP