Jean-Yves Le Drian
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian praised Turkey for refusing to insult the EU and France, but admitted that “Ankara still has a lot of work to do.” The diplomat is quoted by Reuters.
In his opinion, relations between the European and Turkish sides will remain fragile until the latter takes concrete action. “At least there are no more insults, and the communication has become more encouraging,” the Foreign Minister admitted.
Le Drian noted other positive signs in Ankara's actions: for example, the withdrawal of Turkish research vessels from the waters of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean and the desire to resume negotiations with Greece. The French minister stressed that the list of claims is still long, but Paris is still striving to establish healthy relations with the republic.
Relations between France and Turkey have been tense in recent months. On the one hand, tension arose against the background of the murder of history teacher Samuel Pati in the suburbs of Paris. After Abdulakhan Anzorov, a native of Moscow of Chechen origin, beheaded the teacher, Macron promised to protect the country's secular values from radical Islam. In response, the Turkish authorities called on Muslims around the world to boycott French goods.
On the other hand, relations between Paris and Ankara have worsened against the background of Turkey's seismic surveys in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Greek side believes that Turkey is violating the borders of its continental shelf. Paris was supported by Athens, the EU imposed sanctions in December 2020 due to the illegal activities of Ankara.
