Macron seeks release of French reporter detained in Turkey

Macron sought to secure the release of a French reporter detained in Turkey at the end of July, during a conversation Tuesday with Erdoğan
AFP, Reuters
Tuesday, 15 August 2017 19:00

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday expressed his concerns over a French journalism student detained in Turkey in a telephone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Elysee Palace said.

The French leader "expressed his concern about the case of Loup Bureau, a journalism student detained in Turkey, and his desire to see our compatriot return to France as soon as possible," the Elysee Palace said.

Macron broke off from his holidays in the south of France to speak with Erdoğan on Tuesday. "The leaders have agreed to talk again next week," the statement said.

Bureau, 27, was arrested on July 26 and accused of having links to Kurdish militants. He is studying for a master's degree in journalism but has also worked as a reporter, notably on a story for the French channel TV5 in 2013 on the militants known as the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG militia to be an extension of the PKK, which has fought a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey and is designated a "terrorist" organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

Bureau is the third French journalist to be detained in Turkey in the past year. In June, Turkey deported French photojournalist Mathias Depardon after holding him for a month on charges of supporting terror groups. Another French reporter, Olivier Bertrand, was expelled in November 2016.

Macron and Erdoğan also discussed the Syrian conflict.