Turkish President Erdogan

  • Turkey against Charlie Hebdo.

    Erdogan: "Macron wants the Crusades back"

  • Erdogan goes to clash with Macron, appeal to the Turks: "Boycott French products"

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04 December 2020 "Macron is a burden for France. Macron and France are going through a very critical period. My hope is that France will get rid of the Macron trouble as soon as possible".

This was stated by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers in the former Hagia Sophia cathedral transformed into a mosque in July.



Relations between Turkey and France have been very tense for some time.

The two countries have opposing views and interests in many crisis scenarios, from the eastern Mediterranean to Libya, from Syria to Nagorno-Karabkah.

Erdogan is no stranger to attacks on Macron, accused of being against Islam and Muslims.



"France and Europe do not deserve politicians like Macron and those who share his mentality, who do nothing but sow hatred" and "would like to revive the Crusades", he said last October, referring to the French president's support for the satirical magazine. Charlie Hebdo for the publication of the cartoons on Muhammad.

Erdogan had also called Macron a person with "mental problems" for words on freedom of expression and compared the situation of Muslims in Europe to that of Jews under Nazism.



On Nagorno-Karabakh, Erdogan said that France has lost the "opportunity to mediate".

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev has given France a piece of advice: if they love Armenians so much, let them give them Marseille. I say the same. Karabakh belongs to our Azerbaijani brothers. The United States and Russia recognize that it is under occupation. France did, but now it has changed position ", added the leader of Ankara, referring to the three countries that lead the Minsk group of the OSCE, which has been involved in seeking a solution to the conflict since the 1990s.



Erdogan: "I'll get vaccinated to lead by example"


The Turkish president then spoke about the "vaccines" situation, saying that Turkey has ordered 50 million doses of CoronaVac from the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, and the first shipment should arrive on the 11th. December.

The government is also talking to Russia to secure its vaccine.



Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told the official Anadolu news agency that he will work to persuade people to get vaccinated by having doses of the Chinese vaccine injected as soon as Turkish authorities approve its use.

"I have no problem getting vaccinated," Erdogan also said.

"It is necessary to take this step as an example for our citizens".



Turkey has also ordered 1 million doses of the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer and German company BioNTech.

Erdogan said he spoke to BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin, who is of Turkish descent.

The country has seen an increase in infections with confirmed cases standing above 30,000 per day on an average of 7 days.

The death toll since March has reached 14,316.

A weekend block, the first since the end of May, will start on Friday evening.