Erdogan's candid criticism signals collapse of Paris's militarist policy
"Where there is no honesty, there is no dignity" (c)

ANALYTICS  31 January 2023 - 12:13

Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lambasted French President Emmanuel Macron, scathing about his activities, reminding him of the principles of international politics and inter-state diplomacy. First of all, Erdogan said Macron was not qualified to lead a state and, as proof, recounted several meetings with him, highlighting where and when the current Elysee Palace master was "not honest" with him.

Erdogan has said France's President Emmanuel Macron "is not honest", stressing that Türkiye believes "international politics should be built on honesty".

"Where there is no honesty, there is no dignity," Erdogan said, adding, "Of course, there are many such leaders in the world."

Erdogan said it is unfortunate that "in the relations with Greece in the Mediterranean, they ignore Türkiye and enter into different relations with them." The Turkish president said he would rather not mention the words he used to describe the essence of Marcon's policy to the French leader.

Erdogan is convinced that Paris is losing prestige on the world stage because of Macron's failed rule. "Mali is in a state of total breakdown with France, the authorities in Burkina Faso have demanded that French troops leave the country in a month and France itself is rapidly losing its reputation in Africa," he backed his opinion with concrete arguments.

The Turkish president's criticism of Macron is valid above all because any argument he makes has an evidentiary basis. All the more so because on the international stage, Erdogan is one of the few presidents who has a well-established image of a man who means what he says. This is evidence of his political clout as a leader of a state capable of upholding not only national interests but also his own principled convictions.

In France, they are well aware of this too, although they are reacting rather painfully. Suffice it to recall how, in October 2020, Paris recalled its ambassador to Ankara for consultations over the Turkish president's remarks about the French leader. According to Anadolu, Erdogan advised Macron to "check his psyche" after he urged to protect France's secular values against radical Islamism. Paris then said Erdogan's rhetoric was unacceptable, even demanding a change in his political course, in response to which the Turkish leader warned of the impending end of Europe due to Islamophobia, calling on other Muslim countries to unite to protect religious values.

However, the difficult French-Turkish relations are not limited to religious issues. The relationship between Ankara and Paris is aggravated by the radically opposing position on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. It is well known that the overtly pro-Armenian position of Macron-ruled France runs counter to the interests of both Azerbaijan and Türkiye. Therefore, it is not surprising that Paris, after Armenia suffered a crushing defeat in a 44-day war in Karabakh, accused Türkiye of fomenting hostilities, and the French Senate hastily (November 25, 2020) adopted a resolution calling for Karabakh's "independence".

There is no need to talk about France's biased policy on the issue of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict if even being one of the co-chairs of the defunct OSCE MG, the French side openly lobbied for Armenian interests, ignoring international law and abusing the OSCE mediation mandate in favour of Yerevan. So this is nothing new: the same hostile approach by France is observed in the current post-conflict period in the region. The anti-Azerbaijani documents initiated by the French side, first of all, confirm this. Let us take the following facts as an example: the Senate of France adopted a disgraceful resolution on November 15, 2022, that envisages sanctions against Azerbaijan on the basis of Article 34-1 of the French Constitution. By the way, the authors of this document, which is contrary to international norms, proposed to deploy "international peacekeeping forces" on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. It is clear that in Paris, under the guise of "international peacekeeping forces", they hoped to sneak representatives of France into the region in the first place. It was only thanks to Baku's political will that the French side did not achieve this goal and the EU mission was later deployed only on Armenian territory.

On 30 November last year, the French National Assembly unanimously passed a biased resolution demanding an end to Azerbaijan's "aggression" against Armenia. In the same context, France's efforts to secure the arrival in Armenia of a long-term EU observer mission for at least two years should also be seen. It is clear that the neo-imperial plans of Paris to gain a foothold in the South Caucasus region lie behind this so-called mission. The fact that French diplomat - Charles Fries, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service will supervise the mission is no accident at all, but a deliberate move.

Report surface in the media that the EU mission can expand up to 2000 people and take on a military peacekeeping character, which will allegedly "contribute to stability in the border regions of Armenia and ensure conditions conducive to the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan". However, there is no doubt that everything will be exactly the opposite. Everything here is clear and obvious - this will not increase security in the region, but on the contrary, it could have a negative impact on Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, which is well understood in both Baku and Ankara. And the fact that this step was not agreed upon with Baku is undoubtedly due to Paris.

In terms of international relations, France's openly hostile policy towards Türkiye can also be seen in French-Turkish relations. Thus, according to Anadolu, President Erdogan said during a meeting of the parliamentary faction of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Ankara (January 18, 2023) that Türkiye is criticised by those who have tried unsuccessfully to bog Türkiye down in Syria, embarrass it in Karabakh and a stalemate in the Aegean Sea. France, among other detractors of Turkey, has undoubtedly received this message and it is primarily its objectives that are completely at odds with Türkiye's interests in Syria. And Paris' interest in the Aegean Sea is indicated by Macron's long-standing efforts to push the EU to develop a comprehensive strategy in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. EU officials' statements on defending the sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus confirm this. In September 2020, at the end of the Southern Europe summit, including France and Greece, President Macron declared support for Greece and Cyprus, allegedly in light of Türkiye's "illegal actions" in the Mediterranean. Just the same day, Macron met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to agree on bilateral military cooperation and a strategy to counter Türkiye. Macron later made a similar statement in Paris in July of the same year, noting that control of the eastern Mediterranean should not be left to Türkiye, thereby exposing France's own interests in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. Moreover, France is in every way preventing Türkiye's accession to the EU.

And this is by no means a complete list of the contradictions in Ankara-Paris relations, and President Erdogan's sober criticism is further evidence of the collapse of Paris's militarist policy. As President Erdogan has said directly, Macron is not exactly the right man for the job he has.

Caliber.Az