France increases tension by recalling its envoy: Turkey

ANKARA

France has increased the tension by recalling its ambassador in Turkey, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said France continues its “one-sided and egocentric” approach towards incidents and in bilateral relations with Turkey.

It added that there was no reaction from France over the projection of caricatures on state buildings in the country, which offended Muslims.

As Turkey is fighting against all types of terror and violence, the statement recalled that Ankara regretted the recent murder of a French teacher. "Our regret was expressed by our Ambassador in Paris, the highest representative of our state in France.”

The Foreign Ministry went on to note that France did not make any statement about Turkish teachers who have been martyred by the terrorist PKK organization for years.

Turkey does not discriminate anyone on the basis of language, religion, race and thoughts while fighting terrorism, it added.

On Saturday, Erdogan responded to French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks in which the latter had accused Muslims of "separatism" and described Islam as "a religion in crisis all over the world."

The Turkish president said: “What is Macron’s problem with Islam? What is his problem with Muslims? He needs mental checks. What else can we say to a president who does not understand freedom of belief and behaves in this way with millions of different faith members living in his own country?”

Later, the Elysee Palace announced that France has recalled its ambassador in Turkey.