France to skip European gymnastics championships in Turkey due 'geopolitical tensions'
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron
The French federation announced on Friday that it willskip the European gymnastics championships scheduled to be held in December in Turkey due to"current geopolitical tensions" and the coronavirus pandemic.
French gymnastics federation president James Blateau said"Insofar as we are unable to fully guarantee the safety of the French team, it seemed to us more responsible to pull out" of the December 9-20 Euros in the southern Turkish city of Mersin.
"Current diplomatic tensions mean that our team's safety cannot be guaranteed,'' saidFrance head coach Kevin Rabaud.
"In these conditions, it is unthinkable to take the least risk as regards a team travelling, albeit for a major competition for which we were perfectly ready."
Turkey and France have been at loggerheads on French President Emmanuel Macron's vow to uphold secular values, including the right to mock Islam and other religions, as part of a battle against extremism.
Earlier, they also hadconflicts in Syria and Libya as well as a scramble for natural gas in the Mediterranean.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently called for a boycott of French products, accusing Macron of islamophobia and advising the French leader to get "mental checks".
The championships in Turkey have already been hit by the withdrawals of several teams, notably Russia, Switzerland, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain, because of the coronavirus outbreak.