President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine war and bilateral ties in a phone call on Thursday following the closely contested French elections.
According to a statement by the Communications Directorate, Erdoğan highlighted the "great importance" of Turkey-France relations and noted that Ankara continues its efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war through diplomacy.
NATO ally Turkey enjoys good ties with both Ukraine and Russia and has offered to host peace talks at the leaders’ level for a permanent cease-fire. Delegation-level talks, which saw meaningful progress, were held in Istanbul on March 29.
Erdoğan underlined the importance of supporting the negotiation process between Kyiv and Moscow.
He also congratulated Macron on his re-election after the leader secured a second term last month, adding that he hopes that the outcome will be beneficial for France.
The phone call marked the first interaction between the two leaders since Macron was re-elected on April 24, fending off a serious challenge from his rival Marine Le Pen.
Erdoğan also told Macron that Turkish-French relations were important for Europe's global role, according to the presidency.
Erdoğan in the past traded barbs with Macron, with tensions escalating in 2020 especially after France cracked down on Muslim groups under the pretext of tackling extremism after several attacks on its soil.
Ankara's ties with its NATO allies, namely the United States and France, have been strained over a host of issues, including Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems and policy differences in Syria, Libya, Karabakh and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Tensions, however, have eased in recent months after the two allies agreed to work on mending ties. Erdoğan met Macron at a NATO summit last month and discussed the possibility of buying SAMP-T defenses from the Franco-Italian Eurosam consortium.
Last week, Erdoğan said it was good for Turkey-France ties that Macron had been re-elected as president.
