Ankara urges Paris to avoid double standards over İmamoğlu case
PARIS
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has urged France to avoid applying double standards regarding the case of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, citing a similar judicial process against political figures in France, such as far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Fidan met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot late on April 2 in Paris. The two ministers discussed a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues, Turkish diplomatic sources informed.
According to the sources, the arrest of İmamoğlu and other developments were discussed during the meeting.
Fidan underlined that applying double standards when addressing the latest developments in Türkiye is wrong and recalled that results of the judicial processes should be awaited just like in the cases observed in France and Romania.
He referred to a legal case against Le Pen who is banned from running in the next presidential elections in France due to fraud and the cancellation of the presidential elections in Romania.
Fidan told his counterpart that Türkiye is closely following the legal process in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron was one of the leaders who strongly criticized Türkiye for the arrest of İmamoğlu and others due to corruption links and recalled that Europe needs a stable Türkiye.
On the bilateral front, the two ministers discussed ways to develop economic and energy ties, sources said.
Türkiye-EU ties should improve
Fidan and Barrot raised the latest developments concerning European security after the Trump administration declared that Europe should take responsibility for its own safety. Fidan underlined the need for increasing coordination with non-EU countries, like Türkiye.
He also expressed Türkiye’s expectation for concrete steps from the EU for the removal of artificial and political hindrances before Ankara-Brussels ties.
Other issues on the agenda of the two ministers included the efforts to end the Russian occupation of Ukraine and intensify engagement with the new leadership in Syria through lifting all the sanctions.
