⁍ On Saturday, Erdogan said Macron had a problem with Muslims and needed mental checks – a rebuke that caused France to recall its ambassador from Ankara.

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⁍ ‘The person in charge of France has lost his way. He goes on about Erdogan all day,’ Erdogan said in a televised speech in the eastern province of Malatya.

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⁍ The French leader this month declared war on ‘Islamist separatism’, which he believes is taking over some Muslim communities in France.

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– Tensions between Turkey and France have been on the rise since French President Emmanuel Macron declared a war on “Islamist separatism” earlier this month. Tensions exploded anew Saturday when Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Macron had a problem with Muslims and needed mental checks, prompting France to recall its ambassador from Turkey, Reuters reports. “The person in charge of France has lost his way,” Erdogan said Sunday. “He goes on about Erdogan all day. Look at yourself first and where you are going. I said in Kayseri yesterday, he is a case and he really must be checked up.” The two countries have been at loggerheads over issues including Syria and Libya, maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean, and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Macron’s office said Saturday France had gathered its European partners, who share France’s demand that Turkey puts a stop to its ‘dangerous adventures’ in the Mediterranean and in the region. It said Erdogan had two months to respond or face measures, noting the absence of a condolence message from Turkey’s leader after the history teacher’s death last week. Erdogan is a pious Muslim and since his Islamist-rooted AK Party first came to power in 2002, he has sought to shift Islam into the mainstream of politics in Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim but constitutionally secular country.