Against the background of the Turkish military offensive in northern Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian declines his participation in France's European Championship qualifier against Turkey.
Le Drian will not come to the football match on Monday evening at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis near Paris, circles in the Foreign Ministry in Paris confirmed.
The Turkish military intervention had led to violent reactions in France and other countries. Paris calls for a special session of the international coalition against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). Turkey's national football team had publicly publicly expressed its solidarity with the military during the European Championship qualifier against Albania. The German national players Ilkay Gündogan and Emre Can, who had lied a photo of the action on Instagram, were last advised in the criticism.
Head of state Emmanuel Macron and the government want to prevent a resurgence of IS, because France has been hit for years by Islamist terrorism.