Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday congratulated Emmanuel Macron for his victory against Marine Le Pen in the French presidential elections on Sunday, DHA reported.
According to the report, the two leaders agreed to meet during the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25. Turkish presidential sources said the two leaders, who pledged determination to further develop bilateral ties, also discussed the importance of overcoming Turkey-EU issues in the coming period.
Macron on April 17 reacted to the results of an April 16 referendum in Turkey on constitutional amendments switching the country to a presidential system of governance, writing on his Twitter account: “The referendum of yesterday marks the authoritarian drift of Turkey.”
“If I am elected President, I will do anything to help the Turkish democrats, who continue to fight,” promised Macron in a subsequent Twitter message.
Attacking European Union countries during his nonstop “yes” campaign ahead of the referendum, Erdoğan said Europe is the center of Nazism today and will pay a heavy price for it.
Describing the EU as “the alliance of crusaders,” Erdoğan called on people to respond to the EU in the referendum on April 16.