UPDATE 2 -Top Turkish diplomat calls Macron's remarks in Algeria 'unfortunate'

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM TURKISH, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTERS

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - French President Emmanuel Macron's recent remarks in Algeria were "unfortunate," as Türkiye does not see any country as a competitor in Africa or in other places, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday.

"Türkiye comes among the top countries that countries trust. Thus it is not right to see Türkiye as a competitor," Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint press conference in the capital Ankara with Catherine Colonna, his visiting French counterpart.

On a three-day visit last week to France’s former colony Algeria, Macron claimed that networks originating from Russia, China, and Türkiye are carrying out "anti-French propaganda" in Africa.

Noting that Türkiye sees the African continent as an equal partner, Cavusoglu said: "If France is finding it difficult to go back to some African countries, we can help France, because Türkiye is a trustworthy partner."

On topics of special concern to Türkiye, Cavusoglu said, "We believe that France will not give up on common sense," decrying the rise in xenophobia and racism in Europe and stressing that it is in both countries’ best interests to continue fighting Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, extremism, and xenophobia.

Cavusoglu also said his country expects necessary measures to be taken for the security of mosques in France as well as Turkish and Muslim community groups there.

- Deep bilateral ties

Saying that he hopes the Turkish community living in France adapts to French society as well as possible while maintaining their ties with Türkiye, Cavusoglu added that it is important for France to take steps to facilitate and encourage them.

Saying that Türkiye and France have deep political, economic, and cultural ties, Cavusoglu said they have agreed to continue cooperation against regional and global challenges.

"It is clear that we do not agree with France on everything,” he added. “We may not agree on everything, but that does not prevent us from having a dialogue and working together. We have also seen that we reduced our differences of opinion through dialogue."

"It is healthier to talk to each other than to talk about each other in different settings," he added.

On trade, Cavusoglu said France is one of Türkiye’s most important trade partners.

"Last year we achieved a trade volume of approximately $17 billion and this year, taking a look at the forecasts, it seems that we will be achieving a figure of $19 billion," he said.

On joint mechanisms for cooperation between Türkiye and France, Cavusoglu said one of those mechanisms is the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) and stressed its continuation would benefit all parties.

On the SAMP/T air defense system project, he said technical delegations are continuing their efforts and that Türkiye, Italy, and France will hold a virtual meeting this month to address the matter in depth.

He stressed Türkiye's expectations that the difficulties Turkish citizens face in visa applications are overcome, adding: "We believe that the issue should be resolved as soon as possible."

Emphasizing that Türkiye favors a permanent solution in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Seas, Cavusoglu urged all third parties, including the EU, to support Türkiye's call for impartial diplomacy.

On the Ukraine war, Cavusoglu affirmed France's "sincere efforts" for a cease-fire and underlined that that the war lasting this long brought had grave consequences such as the food and energy crises.

"Türkiye cannot be callous because we’re in a better shape than Europe or other parts of the world (on the energy crisis). Energy prices, of course, affect us as well. Prices of gas and other issues have increased threefold or fourfold. After all, this is a problem of the whole world. The solution is in our hands," he said.

- Colonna: Let's expand areas of agreement

For her part, Colonna congratulated her Turkish counterpart on Ankara's “important success” in unblocking Ukraine grain shipments this July.

Haling the Turkish-brokered Istanbul grain deal, she said a different energy deal under the UN could be reached amid the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.

Colonna added: “Let's increase the number of topics we agree on and discuss them even if we have differences of opinion from time to time."

She also said they discussed the war in Ukraine, adding that she "emphasized the necessity of maintaining our stance against Russia in a very determined way."

On tensions between Athens and Ankara, she said her country is closely following the issues and expressed a desire for the countries to come to terms.

"As a member of the European Union, we undoubtedly have relations with another European Union member, Greece. But above all, what we desire is that if there are differences of opinion between the two allies, the two neighboring countries, Türkiye and Greece, then we would undoubtedly want them to be resolved through dialogue. We would like to develop a dialogue within the framework of international law," she added.

Noting that France has many areas on which it can cooperate with Türkiye on the African continent, Colonna said the two countries have "many common goals on the African continent."

"We can complement each other on an economic level from time to time," she added.