French President Emmanuel Macron made "a serious mistake" by accusing Türkiye of being "an imperialist power" in Africa, the country’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson Ömer Çelik declared Tuesday via a Twitter thread condemning Macron for his accusation.
"He’s wrong to reduce France’s foreign policy to animosity towards Türkiye," Çelik said after the French leader accused Türkiye, along with China and Russia, of being "imperialist powers" in Africa.
"French companies have been exposed for supporting both Daesh and PKK in Syria in connection with French institutions. Macron made a grave error by accusing Türkiye of being an ‘imperialist power’ when he needs to apologize to the Turkish nation for this," Çelik added.
The weight of our past is on our shoulders, Macron remarked earlier on Monday concerning France's colonial history in Africa. "On the other hand," he continued, "anti-French sentiments have been growing throughout Africa in recent years. This is steered by social media users and activists and is funded by a small number of countries, largely by Russia."
"Are the Chinese, Russians, Turks, and others doing better than us? They’re doing things ten times worse than we did," Macron claimed.
Çelik argued in response that "With this attitude, Macron is hurting the capacity for cooperation that should be developed against the challenges NATO is facing."
The whole world knows what France has done to Africa in its colonial past and what it is still doing, Çelik went on saying. He noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was developing "permanent and in-depth relations" in Africa "with a vision based on equality and partnership."
"Since Macron carries the traces of a colonialist mentality that considers Africa its domain, he is bothered by this situation," the AK Party spokesperson said.
Indeed, Türkiye’s engagement with the African continent has been gaining pace over the years. Having adopted a one-dimensional foreign policy shaped by its relations with the West for decades, Türkiye has shifted to a more diversified, multidimensional and independent foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.
Today, many Turkish investors are active in the continent, doing infrastructure work across many countries, including South Africa, Senegal and Ghana, at competitive prices while Ankara strives to develop diplomatic relations one-on-one.