Ankara Says Macron Expressed Desire to Improve Bilateral Relations in Letter to Erdogan

“Two days ago, we received a very good and positive letter from Macron, which contains his desire to develop relations, to meet with our president,” Cavusolgu said, as cited by the Sabah news outlet.

The top diplomat noted that Erdogan reacted positively to the letter from his French counterpart, agreeing for interaction through videoconferences and phone calls.

Turkey-France tensions revolve around several geopolitical issues, including the Eastern Mediterranean crisis and the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and Libya, where both parties hold opposing stances.

Turkish and French leaders have also been in a row over the problem of radical Islamism since October, when Macron pledged to fight the Islamist threat amid the national dismay over several terrorist attacks in France, including the brutal beheading of a history teacher in Paris and deadly knife-stabbing in Nice. In response, Erdogan commented on the French president’s mental health and urged the Turkish population to refrain from buying French-made products.