France is taking steps to rebuild its long-strained relationship with Turkey, driven by changing European security dynamics, the Russia-Ukraine war, and evolving defense and Middle Eastern geopolitical realities. Western diplomatic sources indicate that after years of disagreements over Syria, Armenia, and the Eastern Mediterranean, Paris now views Ankara as a key part of Europe’s future security framework. A recent joint appearance by Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a Cairo press event symbolized this thaw.

French policymakers see Turkey’s cooling ties with Russia and its cooperation in enforcing Western sanctions as positive signals. Former ambassador Gérard Araud noted that Turkey’s balanced stance since the Ukraine war has effectively aligned it with Kyiv. Shared interests in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran are also drawing the two countries closer, while growing friction between Turkey and Israel has opened new strategic space for coordination.

Defense cooperation is emerging as a major area of progress, including Turkey’s interest in the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense system and a new partnership between France’s Safran and Turkey’s Bayraktar on drone and sensor technology. However, ideological and political differences, disputes over Armenia and Greece, and uncertainty over Macron’s successor remain key challenges to sustained rapprochement.