President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron.
During the phone call held upon French President Macron’s request, the relations between Turkey and France as well as between Turkey and the EU were discussed and regional developments including particularly the Eastern Mediterranean were addressed.
President Erdoğan indicated during the conversation that the ignorance of the legitimate rights of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean was the reason for the tension in the region, and stated that he failed to understand France’s support for the maximalist claims and steps of Greece and the Greek Cypriots that served to further escalate the tension.
Stressing that Turkey had no eye on any country’s rights and would never allow its rights to usurped by anyone; President Erdoğan said Turkey, as always, advocated dialogue and cooperation for resolving problems.
Underscoring the need to make use of diplomatic opportunities and implement sustainable negotiation processes to decrease the tension, President Erdoğan expressed Turkey’s willingness to discuss and solve all the problems around the table.
President Erdoğan said Turkey expected France to adopt a prudent and constructive stance and underlined the value of a functioning consultation and communication mechanism between Turkey and France.
President Erdoğan, stated that an approach that encouraged constructive dialogue and cooperation towards Turkey at the EU Leaders’ Summit was important for the possible solution of regional issues.