Morocco King Congratulates Macron, Hails Performance of Moroccan Football Team

 
King Mohammed VI (MAP)
King Mohammed VI (MAP)
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Morocco King Congratulates Macron, Hails Performance of Moroccan Football Team

 
King Mohammed VI (MAP)
King Mohammed VI (MAP)

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron following Wednesday’s 2022 World Cup semi-finals match between France and Morocco.

Mohammed congratulated Macron for France's triumph which has put the team into the World Cup final.

The call came on the eve of the visit of French Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Catherine Colonna to Rabat.

Colonna arrived in France on Thursday to meet Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita and discuss pending issues between both states and prepare for the visit of Macron to Rabat at the end of January.

Following the game, King Mohammed VI held a phone call with Morocco coach Walid Regragui.

The monarch thanked the Moroccan football players for their brilliant achievements and wished them luck for the upcoming match.

The King praised the performance of Regragui for having been able, in only a few months at the head of the national team, to forge a group of players so compact and so combative, to the point of marking this competition and honoring the Moroccan people and the international public by his high values of sportsmanship and his exemplary talent.

The King also spoke with the captain of the national team Romain Saiss to whom the Sovereign wished a speedy recovery from his injury, and congratulated him for his leadership while asking him to convey warm congratulations to the whole team.



Türkiye to Seek Lifting of Syria Sanctions, Erdogan Tells Sharaa

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on April 11, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaking hands with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) during a meeting the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2025) in Antalya. (Handout / Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on April 11, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaking hands with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) during a meeting the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2025) in Antalya. (Handout / Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)
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Türkiye to Seek Lifting of Syria Sanctions, Erdogan Tells Sharaa

This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on April 11, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaking hands with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) during a meeting the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2025) in Antalya. (Handout / Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by Turkish Presidency Press Office on April 11, 2025, shows Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaking hands with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) during a meeting the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2025) in Antalya. (Handout / Turkish Presidency Press Office / AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday that Türkiye will continue its diplomatic efforts to lift international sanctions against Syria, Erdogan’s office said.

During their meeting at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye, Erdogan said efforts should be increased to revitalize trade and economic cooperation with Syria and that Türkiye will continue to provide support to the country, the statement said.

Türkiye is an influential actor in neighboring Syria as opposition groups it supported during the civil war took power last December. However, the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad aggravated already tense relations between Türkiye and Israel, with their conflicting interests pushing the relationship toward a possible collision course.

When Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last month, he advised him to be “reasonable” in his dealings with Ankara.

Erdogan told the forum in Antalya: “We are in a state of understanding and close dialogue with influential actors in the region, especially Trump and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, in preserving the territorial integrity of Syria."

As if to underline this position, Sharaa sat just two places away from Erdogan’s seat in the hall.

It was Sharaa’s second trip to Türkiye as leader after Erdogan welcomed him to the capital Ankara in February.

In an apparent warning, Erdogan said that “no-one should misunderstand our cool-headedness and our stance of resolving issues through dialogue.”

The president has been a vocal critic of Israel’s operations in Gaza.