France’s Macron sends letter to improve ties with Turkey

French President Emmanuel Macron has sent a reply letter to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a bid to fix ruined ties and to further improve them, the top Turkish diplomat has announced, informing about an Ankara-Paris deal to work on four main titles, including differences on regional conflicts, namely Syria and Libya.

"In the letter, President Macron expresses the importance of Turkey for Europe and his will to develop positive ties with Turkey as well as to meet our president in the coming period. It's a very positive letter with some parts in Turkish. Our president has welcomed it and agreed to meet President Macron. An initial meeting may take place via videoconference," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told a group of reporters on his return from a three-day trip to Pakistan on late Jan. 14. Macron's letter is a reply to President Erdoğan's New Year message to France, the minister informed.

Ties between the two allies were severely strained in 2020 due to some bilateral rows and regional conflicts from Syria to Libya and from Nagorno-Karabakh to the eastern Mediterranean. In parallel with de-escalation in the eastern Med in early December 2020, Çavuşoğlu and French Foreign Minister Jean Yves le Drian decided to end this negative trend in ties and launch a road map for reconciliation.

As a result of diplomatic contacts between the two countries, a mutual understanding to work on four main titles was reached, Çavuşoğlu said, listing them as "bilateral relations and consultations, fight against terror, regional issues including Syria and Libya and cooperation in the field of education."

"I hope France will not repeat the same mistakes it committed in the context of our Operation Peace Spring. Of course, this (reconciliation)...