October 30 The outside world did not expect that in just a dozen days, a domestic terrorist attack in France triggered another uproar-the contradictions between the two major powers of France and Turkey, upgrade.
On the one hand, Turkish President Erdogan scolded French President Macron, saying that he “does not understand freedom of belief” and “needs mental treatment”; on the other hand, France called Erdogan’s remarks “unacceptable” and urgent. The ambassador to Turkey was recalled.
As the tension between the two countries continues to ferment, the outside world cannot help but attract attention. What is the reason? How did the terrorist attack in France, which was the fuse of the incident, reflect the development trend of domestic extremism?
On September 25, local time, a knife attack occurred in the French capital Paris. The attack occurred near the original headquarters of Charlie Hebdo in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. The picture shows the scene of the attack is heavily guarded, French riot police and military police patrolling with guns. Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Yang
Fierce confrontation!
Disturbance caused by a beheading case
The fuse of this incident was that on October 16, French history teacher Samuel Patty was beheaded to death outside a school in the northern suburbs of Paris. Before Patty was alive, he offered a controversial course on secularism and related religious publications in Charlie Hebdo.
France subsequently launched a series of extremely powerful measures to counter terrorism and combat extremism. Macron also emphasized once again that he will defend France’s secularist values and “we will continue to fight for freedom.”
Macron’s words and deeds are because the teacher beheading case has touched the core values and moral bottom line of France. Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Russian, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out in an interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com.
However, the French dialects and deeds caused dissatisfaction in Turkey, and Erdogan condemned Macron’s hostility to Islam. On October 24, he even called Macron “needs mental treatment”, and then issued an appeal saying, “Never buy French trademark goods!”
The French Presidential Palace also quickly fought back, criticizing Erdogan’s remarks as “unacceptable” and announced the recall of the French ambassador to Turkey. According to French media, this move by France should be the first in the history of diplomatic relations between France and Turkey.
On October 28, the French magazine “Charlie Hebdo”, which is famous for drawing caricatures, published a caricature aimed at Erdogan. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs then summoned the Chargé d’affaires of the French Embassy in Turkey, and the relationship between the two countries has further increased.
Long-standing grievances
There are many foreign policy conflicts between the two countries
“The beams formed by Turkey and France are too deep.” Jiang Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed. There are obvious differences in the foreign policies of France and Turkey, both of which are members of NATO, on a number of recent regional focus issues.
At the end of September, conflict broke out in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Naka region. Compared with Turkey, which clearly supports Afghanistan, France urges both sides to “return to the negotiating table” and strongly condemns “Turkey sending Syrian mercenaries to help Afghanistan fight”.
In the disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean, France and Turkey are also on opposite sides. In August, Turkey dispatched an exploration ship to the disputed waters of the Eastern Mediterranean to conduct natural gas exploration activities, which triggered strong opposition from Greece.
Data map: On January 21, 2020, local time, the aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle” set sail from the Toulon naval base and went to the Eastern Mediterranean for several months of anti-terrorism missions.
Under the tense situation, France deployed two Rafale fighter jets and frigates to the area, and expressed firm support to the Greek side, saying that the French military will monitor the situation in the region.
In Libya, which is closely connected with Turkish interests, France and Turkey also accused each other of interfering in the situation in Libya in June. Macron said that Turkey is expanding its military presence in Libya; Turkey said, “France supports illegal institutions and plays dangerous games in Libya.”
In this regard, Zhang Hong pointed out to Chinanews that the “regional power diplomacy” pursued by Turkey in recent years has “put pressure on the traditional regional structure and challenged the authority of France and other major powers in the international order.”
All parties stated
Turkey and the EU are drifting away?
As the tension between Turkey and France continued to ferment, most Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar fell to Erdogan. On October 25, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also accused Macron on social media, saying that he “has hurt the emotions of millions of Muslims in Europe and the world.”
Some people in Kuwait and Qatar also joined Erdogan’s call to “boycott French goods”: Kuwaiti supermarkets began to remove French goods on a large scale; in the capital of Qatar, famous French restaurants no longer offer French meals made with imported ingredients. Qatar The university directly announced the postponement of French Culture Week.
In response, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a rigorously worded statement, asking all countries to stop the “meaningless boycott” of France.
At the same time, many European countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Portugal, have spoken out in support of France.
Dutch Prime Minister Rutte said through social media on the 26th that Erdogan’s remarks against Macron were “unacceptable” and that the Netherlands firmly supports the collective values of France and the European Union and opposes extremism.
The EU has even issued a warning that Turkey’s call to boycott the goods of its member states “will further increase the distance between Turkey and the EU.” In response, French geopolitical expert Frederic Unsell further analyzed that if Europe The implementation of possible anti-sanctions and Turkish leaders’ calls to boycott French products will have a counterproductive effect on itself.
Data map: On November 13, 2016, local time, Paris, France, France held a commemoration ceremony for the first anniversary of the serial terrorist attacks in Paris.
Political demand driven
France has strong demands for de-radicalization, and Turkey pursues pluralistic diplomacy
Why did one case cause so many waves? The analysis pointed out that this is inextricably linked to the growth of extremism in France and the political needs of Turkish and French leaders themselves.
On the one hand, there have been continuous terrorist attacks in France in recent years, and it is difficult to bridge the gap in the concept of freedom of speech and value recognition and social tears.
—— In November 2015, a series of terrorist attacks occurred in Paris, resulting in more than 130 deaths and more than 350 injuries. The extremist organization “Islamic State” admitted its responsibility.
——In July 2016, a large truck crashed into a crowd along the Corniche in Nice, killing 86 people.
——In May 2018, a man armed with a knife stabbed one person to death and stabbed four others in the center of Paris and was shot dead by police.
In this regard, Jiang Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that “Under the background of the breeding of extremism, Macron must show a high-profile and tough posture” to respond to the public’s demands for the security situation and increase its government support rate. .
Zhang Hong also said that if Macron did not act hard on the issue of terrorist attacks, it would definitely affect his influence in European diplomacy and even diplomacy in the Mediterranean.
Turkish President Erdogan.
On the other hand, the National Public Radio (NPR) pointed out that Erdogan has been working hard to establish an image of a strong leader.
With the improvement of various aspects of strength in recent years, Turkey has also pursued more global influence and regional interests. Zhang Hong also pointed out that “after repeated requests to join the EU were rejected, the EU’s binding force on Turkey has gradually decreased, and the tendency of (Turkey) to form diversified diplomacy with Russia and the United States has gradually become apparent.”
“However, under the current chaotic international situation, how to establish as few enemies as possible is a question that the EU and Turkey must consider.”
