Authorities have already ordered the closure of a mosque in a Paris suburb and launched several raids against groups accused of contributing to the radicalisation of youth.
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
In Azerbaijan as in Libya, Macron has taken issue with Erdogan’s support of a rival camp, condemning in late September what he called the Turkish leader’s “reckless and dangerous” backing of Azeri forces in their attempt to retake the breakaway and Armenian-occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“France remains extremely concerned about the warlike comments that Turkey made … which essentially remove any inhibitions from Azerbaijan in what would be a re-conquest of northern Karabakh. That we will not accept,” the French president said.
Macron days later alleged Turkey had sent Syrian fighters in support of Azeri forces, echoing a similar accusation made in January at Ankara over its deployment of Syrian “mercenaries” to Libya.
Eastern Mediterranean
Erdogan in September warned Macron “not to mess” with his country during a standoff between Greece and Cyprus on the one hand and Turkey on the other.
“Don’t mess with the Turkish people. Don’t mess with Turkey,” Erdogan said in a televised address marking the 40th anniversary of a 1980 coup.
Ankara and Athens have been entangled in what has increasingly become a tenacious dispute over hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean that has often drawn in European powers, including France.
Macron had a few days earlier said Europeans must take a “clear and firm” stand not against “Turkey as a nation and people but with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has taken unacceptable actions”.
Libya
Macron in June slammed Erdogan for what he described as Ankara’s “dangerous game” in Libya, where Turkey and France support opposing sides in the country’s long-running civil war.
“I have already had the opportunity to say very clearly to President Erdogan, I consider that Turkey is playing a dangerous game in Libya today and going against all of its commitments made at the Berlin conference,” Macron said, referring to a peace summit at which Turkey and several other foreign actors pledged to stop arming Libya’s warring sides.
“We won’t tolerate the role that Turkey is playing in Libya.”
France has been accused of supporting eastern-based renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, who in April 2019 launched an offensive to wrest control of the capital from the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord, leading to the killing of more than 1,000 people and the displacement of countless more.
For Pierre Razoux of the Mediterranean Foundation of Strategic Studies, Erdogan’s strategy is aimed at pushing France into a wrong move, and diverting attention from his own troubles at home and abroad.
“Erdogan is trying to isolate France and divide the Europeans, so he is firing on all cylinders,” Razoux said.
Ramy Allahoum contributed to this report
