Paris Murders Reveal Sensitive Nature of Turkish-French Ties
The murder of three PKK activists has brought attention to the changes in Turkish-French relations, writes Semih Idiz.
The Jan. 10 killings in Paris of three female activists for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) — listed as “a terrorist organization” by the US and the EU — comes at a sensitive moment for Turkey and France.
The bloody event occurred just as the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a politically bold yet risky move, began peace negotiations with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who's serving a life sentence in Turkey.
But the attack also came at a time when Turkey and France are trying to mend fences following a period of high tension and mutual animosity under former President Nicolas Sarkozy. The election of Francoise Hollande as president in 2012 has raised hopes that ties can be improved and efforts to this end are ongoing. The aim is to cap these efforts with a visit by the Hollande to Turkey sometime in the not so distant future.
However, Hollande’s remark — or gaffe depending how you look at it — following the Paris murders, in which he admitted he had been meeting one of the women killed, immediately electrified Erdogan, giving him a fresh opportunity to reflect righteous indignation, and show that ties between the two countries remain touchy.
