Macron Warns Turkey Not to Interfere In French Elections

                            

Over the past week, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Turkey of meddling in the 2022 French Election. These allegations are part of an ongoing feud between Macron and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (Voanews). These new allegations by Macron have put any ongoing negotiations between Turkey, and France to a halt. 

(dailysabah.com)

Macron alleges that nongovernmental organizations (or NGOs) in Europe are being used by "Turkey's official propaganda organs"(dailysabah.com) to either interfere in elections or interfere in the financing of organizations(dailysabah.com). Members of the Turkish government were appalled by Macron's recent accusations. The spokesperson of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) called these allegations unacceptable and said that Macron was "out of line" (dailysabah.com). However, it is important to note that President Erdogan has previously been accused of interfering in elections. In 2017 he came under fire for meddling in the election of German chancellor Angela Merkel (voanews). However, nothing came of these allegations, as Merkel, was elected, and Erdogan did not face any punishment. 

(voanews)

This kind of tension between France and Turkey is nothing new, these two countries have been at odds over geopolitical conflicts in Syria and Libya for a few years(dailysabah.com). This political conflict originates mostly from differing views on religion. Macron has at times been outspoken against radical Islam, Erdogan on the other hand is Pro-Islam, this has only added to the tension between the two nations. In addition to these political conflicts, Macron and Erdogan have gotten into a number of public arguments. The most recent came after President Macron made some controversial comments about Islam's prophet Mohammed. These comments were made following the terrorist attacks in France, in which Macron went on to call Islam a "religion in crisis"(dailysabah.com).  Erdogan and the rest of Turkey took Macron's comments as a direct assault on the religion of Islam, furthering the divide between the two countries. 

This latest allegation by Macron threatens to ruin peaceful negotiations between France and Turkey. With the election coming up in one year it is crucial for France and Turkey to be on good terms. Ultimately, the relationship between these two countries is worsening, and it will be interesting to see how Macron's recent comments impact the results of France's upcoming election. Hopefully, the arguments between the two Presidents do not hinder any future negotiations between the two countries.

(Arab News, 2020)

References:

Afp. “Erdogan Hopes France Will 'Get Rid of Macron' as Soon as Possible.” Arab News, Arabnews, 4 Dec. 2020, www.arabnews.com/node/1772526

Agency, Anadolu. “Macron Reiterates Claim Turkey Attempting to Interfere in French Elections.” Daily Sabah, Daily Sabah, 27 Mar. 2021, www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/macron-reiterates-claim-turkey-attempting-to-interfere-in-french-elections.

“Macron Warns Turkey Not to Interfere in French Elections.” Voice of America, www.voanews.com/europe/macron-warns-turkey-not-interfere-french-elections.