Turkish FM criticizes EU, press on France protests

By Hatice Ozdemir Tosun

ANTALYA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Sunday said that he was against vandalism, however, he criticized the excessive force French police used against protestors and questioned the EU attitude towards France, addressing the European press stance as a "disaster".

Speaking at Antalya Association of Journalists awards ceremony, Turkish top diplomat commented on the global agenda and recent protests which erupted in France.

"We have never supported vandalism. When we witnessed vandalism in our country, we saw these [European] countries strongly supporting it through NGOs, politicians press. Turkey remained on the agenda every day. Today, there are demonstrations in France, we occasionally see them going extreme. We are against vandalism, but the excessive force used by French police is truly a lesson. The attitude of the European Union and countries is also a lesson. The press attitude in this context is a total disaster. That's what we call 'double standards'. That's what we call hypocrisy," he said.

Cavusoglu pointed out that the other European countries didn't raise much criticism to the police violence as they viewed France as an EU member with whom they felt they must be in solidarity with. He added that France should be criticized for enforcing policies violating the standards and values of the European Union.

Turkish FM went on to say that, despite the recent protests in Europe, the continent was still the most stable place in comparison with the world, wishing the protests to come to an end very soon.

"We don't want the economies of these [European] countries to be damaged. We are part of this continent as well and it is true that there are problems and issues we are uncomfortable with. However, it is still the most stable, safe and economically-developed continent compared with the world. We want it to remain that way and advance even further, which is in our benefit as well," he said.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this story from Ankara