Hollande to visit Turkey without partner Valerie Trierweiler

ANKARA

French President François Hollande, who is reportedly having a secret affair with an actress, will pay his scheduled official visit to Turkey without being accompanied by his partner.
 
The protocol arrangements for the French president, who will be hosted by President Abdullah Gül, do not include any preparations for his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, according to Turkish officials.

French magazine Closer said Jan. 10 the president was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, backing its claim with photographs after months of swirling rumors.

Hollande lives with his partner Trierweiler, a journalist for whom he left fellow Socialist politician Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children. Trierweiler has been taken to hospital due to “exhaustion” following claims that he has been having an affair.

Hollande will pay his long-awaited visit to Turkey on Jan. 27-28, after he took office in 2012, defeating his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy who remained a steadfast opponent of Turkey’s membership into the EU. The French president has softened his government’s stance, lifting Paris’ objection to the opening of talks on one of the five blocked chapters. The EU and Turkey formally opened talks on Chapter 22 last autumn.