Senator EELV Esther Benbassa, born in Turkey and a specialist in the region, said Tuesday on Europe 1 that sanctions should be imposed against Turkey to avoid a massacre of Kurdish populations.

INTERVIEW

For almost a week now, Turkey has launched an offensive in Syria against Kurdish populations. The offensive has been condemned by many countries, including France, but not strong enough for some political figures. Esther Benbassa, Senator EELV, is one of them. She who was born in Turkey and remains a specialist of the region said Tuesday on Europe 1 that "the Turks can arrive until the genocide" and that it is thus necessary "to take the necessary measures to stop a future genocide".

"I believe that France should recall the French ambassador, that she thinks of an exit from NATO, that she takes economic sanctions, that she suspends the visas of entry to France for Turkish nationals, "she said in retaliation measures that could, or should take Emmanuel Macron according to her. "The diplomatic outrage will not affect much (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan," the president of Turkey.

"We can not continue to [let] massacre a population"

And the senator to drive the point. "The message must be that we can not continue to slaughter a population." According to her, "the United States went much further" than France "to mark the blow" and oppose Ankara.

It was nevertheless the partial withdrawal of US troops from Syria that opened the way for the Turkish offensive. In France, elected officials from all sides meet Tuesday evening for a round table in Paris, on the initiative of UDI President Jean-Christophe Lagarde, to discuss the situation of Kurds in Syria.