Turkey has fired back after France’s president warned it against invading a Kurdish enclave in Syria, calling his remarks an “insult.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that France was in no position to “teach a lesson” to Turkey over its cross-border offensive, referring to past French military interventions in Algeria and other parts of Africa.
His comments were in response to remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who warned Turkey against an “invasion operation.”
Turkey launched the offensive against the Afrin enclave on Jan. 20 to drive out the Syrian Kurdish People’s Defense Units, or YPG, a militia it says is an extension of the outlawed Kurdish rebels fighting inside Turkey.
Cavusoglu said France understood that Turkey was fighting “terrorists” and did not aim to invade Afrin.
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