PARIS, Jan 4: French President Emmanuel Macron and with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have discussed the situation in the Middle East in a phone conversation, the Elysee Palace said on Friday.
“Today, the president of the [French] Republic had a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders expressed mutual concern regarding the increased tension in the Middle East following the latest events in Iraq, and also [pointed out] the need to avoid dangerous escalation,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement. Macron also reminded about the priority of the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organization (banned in Russia) and France’s total commitment to the actions of the international coalition. “Regarding Syria, the president stressed his concern about the humanitarian and security situation in Idlib,” the statement read.
The Elysee Palace also stressed the importance of the United Nations maintaining access to the Syrian locals that require help. Speaking about Libya, Macron stressed that the crisis in the country has no military solution, and the need to avoid any escalation caused by foreign intervention.
The situation in the region has become exceedingly more fractious after the US assassination of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani, in the early hours of Friday. Just a week before, the United States accused the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group of launching an attack on a US military base near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, which killed a US contractor on December 27. In retaliation, the US launched a strike against Kataib Hezbollah’s forces on Sunday killing about two dozen of its fighters, which, in turn, triggered Shiite protesters’ attempts to storm the gates of the US embassy in Baghdad.
(AGENCIES)
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