Macron says Turkey plans to try to sway French elections
Ties between French leader and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been tense over issues ranging from religion to energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
President Emmanuel Macron expressed concern that Turkey will attempt to influence upcoming French elections, reports Bloomberg.
“The threats aren’t veiled, so I think that we must be very lucid,” Macron said on Tuesday in an interview with France 5 television.
The comments come somewhat out of left field. Ties between Macron and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been tense over issues ranging from religion to energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, but they exchanged letters in January and agreed to try and mend ties. On March 2 they followed up with a video call.
Macron didn’t explain how Turkey might attempt to interfere with French elections -- or whether he was referring to regional elections in June, the presidential ballot in 2022, or both. He said only that Turkey would be “playing on public opinion.”
