Macron and Erdogan set aside differences to press Putin over war
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French President Emmanuel Macron (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are coordinating their actions to press Putin for a ceasefire.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, AFP
ISTANBUL (BLOOMBERG) - French and Turkish attempts to help end the war in Ukraine are improving their previously frosty relations.
Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are coordinating their actions as they use access to Russian President Vladimir Putin to press for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors to remove at least some civilians from danger.
The French President and his Turkish counterpart spoke around the time of Russia's Feb 24 invasion and are looking at a possible bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels on Thursday (March 24), according to a person familiar with the contacts.
Bolstering the effort, the French and Turkish foreign ministers have talked on the telephone and defence ministers met in Brussels, while the countries' militaries have conducted joint drills in the Mediterranean in recent days.
Mr Ali Onaner, Turkey's ambassador to France, confirmed officials from both countries have been "actively exchanging on peace efforts" while the French President's Office did not reply to a request for comment.
It is a significant shift for a relationship that has seen Mr Macron and Mr Erdogan spar on a number of issues over the years, including energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, Libya's civil war and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
More broadly, Turkey's purchase of a Russian missile-defence system angered several of its Nato allies.
They even argued over Islam.
Mr Macron and Mr Erdogan agreed to try and mend ties in an exchange of letters in January 2021.
Since then, Turkey has been pursuing a policy of reconciliation with its neighbours, but it is with France that there is the most making up to do.
Mr Erdogan's government has expanded links with Ukraine. It is also heavily reliant on Russian natural gas, agricultural products as well as tourists, and has not wanted to pick sides.
With the invasion again drawing Europe and the United States closer, that appears to be changing.
"It looks like Putin is not only bringing long-lost unity to the EU but also reminding Ankara of the benefits of its Western ties," Mr Gunter Seufert, head of the Turkey division at German think-tank SWP, wrote in a report.