President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized French President Emanuel Macron for recent move on the 1915 events, as he told him to focus on the crimes committed by France during the colonial era. He also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for declaring April 24 as a day to mark the so-called Armenian genocide. But Erdoğan, who has urged "political novice" Macron to "focus on massacres committed by French troops during the colonial era" on Saturday again denounced the idea. "Delivering a message to 700,000 Armenians who live in France will not save you, Monsieur Macron," Erdoğan said. Following protracted efforts to purchase an air defense system from the U.S. with no success, Ankara decided in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400 system.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 27, 2019 17:03 UTC