MACRON HITS ERDOGAN FOR BEING BELLIGERENT TOWARDS NATO ALLIES

French President Emmanuel Macron accused Turkey of taking a belligerent stance towards the country's NATO partners, saying that allies should address problems openly in an interview, which broadcaster, Al-Jazeera aired. 

Macron said he was in favor of calming relations but that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should respect the EU and France and avoid making offensive remarks, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported. 

Erdogan and Macron clashed after the Turkish leader called for a boycott of French goods, in response to Macron's defense of freedom of speech in reference to cartoons published in a satirical magazine depicting the prophet Mohammed, deemed blasphemous by Muslims. 

Macron also struck a conciliatory note in the interview, saying he understood the feelings of Muslims who were upset by cartoons of the prophet. "I understand the sentiments being expressed and I respect them. But you must understand my role right now, it’s to do two things: to promote calm and also to protect these rights," he said. Macron criticized what he called "distortions" by political leaders, saying many people had been led to think that the caricatures were created by the French state, rather the work of free and independent newspapers. He also said he was trying to combat the "radical Islam" that is a threat to all people, especially Muslims. After three terror attacks in the past weeks in which several people were killed, Macron said he was fighting terrorism carried out in the name of Islam, and not Islam itself.