French professor and former diplomat Philippe Moreau Defarges apologized to those who were hurt by his controversial comment suggesting the assassination of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but refused to apologize for saying the president should be killed.
Defarges made his scandalous remarks on French broadcaster BFM on Saturday, suggesting that a civil war would be another option to assassinating Turkey's president.
When the host of the program said an assassination cannot be legitimized due to a political 'crisis', Defarges tried to justify his argument, claiming that similar situations have been observed history.
A large number of Turks living in France demanded an immediate apology from the French Institute of International Relations and the TV channel that hosted Defarges.
The apology came later on Sunday after several complaints were also made on social media and to the French Radio and Television Supreme Council.
"On Saturday, April 22, I was invited to '7 Days in the World' [BFM Business] to discuss my views on the situation in Turkey. Some of my statements were inappropriate and misunderstood," Defarges tweeted in his message in French.
However, Defarges said he apologizes for hurting certain people by his remarks, not for saying Erdoğan should be killed.
"I want to express my deepest sadness and sincerely apology to the people and groups I might have hurt. My words are not binding to IFRI in any way and are completely personal," his tweet read.
