Former French Chief of Staff: Turkey is no longer a secular country, and Erdogan’s Ottoman ambitions must be put to an end

Former French Chief of Staff, General Pierre Deauville, considered that Turkey is no longer a secular country, and that the policies of its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “who aspire to restore the greatness of the Ottoman Empire, must be confronted”.

In an interview with BFM, the general said: “Erdogan’s Turkey is now, according to his own statements, adhering to the strategy of restoring the Ottoman Empire. 

Turkey embodies this statement with moves, such as the extermination of the Kurds in Syria or what it is doing in the Karabakh region.

“One day, the international community, and France in particular, must put an end to this,” he added. 

We cannot agree that a country like Turkey, which has not yet officially completed its accession negotiations with the European Union, continues to adhere to such rhetoric and procedures while it is a member of NATO.

The French general noted that “Turkey is among those who have supported the Islamists. 

I have funded some of these movements, and this is a known matter”.

He continued: “I think that Turkey is no longer a secular country.

It is clear that it is an Islamic country, and it is not far from the Islamists.

De Villiers’ statements come amid intense disputes between Paris and Ankara over more than one file, including the Libyan crisis, the situation in the eastern Mediterranean and the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh.

A few days ago, Erdogan accused his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, of attacking Islam “in order to settle scores”, adding to that day the accusation against France that it “generally stands behind the disasters and occupation in Azerbaijan”.