Erdogan refuses to visit France

PanARMENIAN.Net - A series of events set to introduce Turkish culture to France next month may be postponed, Erdogan says, but it is not clear if he meant only to put off a trip to France. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Davutoglu will go to France to attend one or two activities.



Turkish Prime Minister said Thursday that the "Turkey Season" cultural event in France could be postponed because of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's strong opposition to Ankara's bid for full membership in the EU.



Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said he might not travel to France for the event.



"Sarkozy will regret what he has been doing sooner or later," Erdogan told private channel NTV. "We had contacts with former French President Jacques Chirac for a long time, but we have not seen such an approach from him."



It was not clear whether Erdogan meant to postpone his trip to France or call off the entire Turkey Season event.



President Abdullah Gul and Sarkozy were expected to launch the event, which aims to introduce Turkish culture to France through 400 activities in 40 different French cities, on July 1. The "season" is scheduled to continue through March of next year. Gul recently said he would travel to France to kick off the events with the French leader. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is also set to travel to France to participate in one or two activities, his spokesman said yesterday, Huttiyet Daily News reported.