Turkish-French ministers meet in Paris

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian met on June 7 in Paris as part of efforts to normalize bilateral ties after a period of conflict due to differences on both bilateral issues and regional developments.

“Turkey and France are two friendly and allied countries. And they will remain so. We must ensure that no misunderstanding comes to disturb this relationship of friendship to which we are sincerely attached,” Çavuşoğlu wrote in an op-ed for the French daily L’Opinion on June 6 ahead of the meeting.    

Turkey and France share the same priorities on many significant subjects regarding Syria, he said, including the delivery of humanitarian aid, the need to move forward in the political process and preserving the country’s territorial integrity.      

“As for our disagreements relating to the collaboration of our allies with the YPG/PKK terrorists in their fight against Daesh, they can only be overcome when this cooperation ceases definitively,” Çavuşoğlu said.       

The minister said Turkey and France share some priorities in Libya. “We are open to dialogue on issues of common interest in Libya, whose stability affects the entire region,” he noted.      

On the issue of the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey has never had any expansionist ambitions, he said, adding this dialogue with Greece was another confirmation on this.      

“If the unfounded claims of extremist Armenians could be prevented from taking Turkish-French relations hostage,” he said, the two countries could better contribute to the stability of the South Caucasus through their joint efforts.

Speaking about Turkey-EU relations, he said Ankara hopes that France can become the driving force behind rapprochement with Turkey by contributing to developments that will benefit both the bloc and bilateral relations.