US: Infighting between NATO allies only serves opponents
The United States interfered on escalating tensions between France and Turkey on Tuesday, and informing Al Arabiya English that unnecessary intern fight between NATO allies only serves our adversaries.
A State Department spokesperson informed Al Arabiya English: The United States strongly believes that unnecessary Alliance infighting only serves our adversaries.
It should be noted that the US, France, and Turkey are part of the 29-member international military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that was established to create a counterweight to the Soviet Union’s military abilities at the time the organization was founded in 1949.
Erdogan vs. Macron
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized French President Emmanuel Macron in recent days after the response of Macron to the decapitation of a teacher in France by an extremist following the use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a class on freedom of expression.
Macron declared last week that France will not give up caricatures and that the teacher was killed because Islamists want our future, and promising they will never have it. While Erdogan answered on Monday in a provocative speech and accused Macron of having an anti-Islam agenda and mental problems. Because of the comments, France recalled its ambassador from Ankara.
Moreover, the Turkish president also called Turks to never buy French products and indicated that Muslims in Europe are being treated like Jewish people before World War II.
He also said: Muslims are now subjected to a lynch campaign similar to that against Jews in Europe before World War II. European leaders including the prime minister of Italy have denounced the statements of Erdogan’s and considered as unacceptable.
France-Turkey tensions
In fact, the latest escalation between Erdogan and Macron is just one incident in a series of bilateral confrontations about concerns including the conflict in Libya, the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, and maritime control in the eastern Mediterranean.
On his part, Macron has accused the Turkish government in July of having criminal responsibility in Libya by supposedly transporting extremist fighters from Syria to Tripoli, in the place of respecting a UN arms embargo. He also described the involvement of Turkey as dangerous in both Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian province that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
French President said last month that there was clear proof that Syrian extremist fighters were transporting via Turkey to help Azerbaijan battle against Armenia in the province. Whereas, Turkey has dismissed sending arms or foreign fighters to fight Armenian forces, but has publicly supported Azerbaijan.
Although the public dispute, Erdogan and Macron made their first conversation in months on September 23 to talk about a conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean between Turkey and European Union member states Cyprus and Greece.
Macron demanded Turkey to fully respect the sovereignty of the EU member states in response to Ankara trying to expand its energy resources and control in the eastern Mediterranean. According to the French foreign office, the both agreed to keep in contact.
