Presidential 2022: why Macron is worried about "Turkish interference"
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris, March 18, 2021. REUTERS - POOL
Text by: Anthony Lattier Follow
2 min
Is this a new cold snap between France and Turkey?
Ankara qualifies in any case as "
inadmissible
" the statements of Emmanuel Macron.
The president affirms in an interview with France 5 that "
there will be Turkish interference during the next French presidential election
".
While a process of diplomatic de-escalation is underway between Paris and Ankara and that relations between Europe and Turkey will be on the agenda of the European Council on Thursday, for what reasons does Emmanuel Macron hold such about ?
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In the mind of the president, this statement is a warning.
Emmanuel Macron does not want a repeat
of the disinformation campaign
orchestrated, according to him, by Turkey in October.
He then felt that his speech on Islamist separatism and that defending the freedom of expression of cartoonists had been distorted, in particular by Turkish media.
Since then, the French and Turkish heads of state have spoken to each other.
They now advocate appeasement.
Which questions the tempo of this declaration, especially since the European Union is also engaged in a de-escalation with Turkey.
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See also: EU-Turkey relations: von der Leyen and Michel met with Erdogan
But Emmanuel Macron wants to send a message: this appeasement will not be able to take place "
if there is behind such maneuvers which continue
", in particular during the next elections.
The objective is therefore always to move towards a rapprochement but by showing "
vigilance
", as explained by the spokesperson for the French government who took as an example "
pressure exerted on candidates
" during the last municipal elections. .
In 2017,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
did not hesitate to call on Turkish nationals living in Germany not to vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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Presidential France 2022
Emmanuel Macron
Turkey