MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey is concerned over growing social tensions in France caused by a labor law reform and calls on the French authorities and protesters to calm the situation and avoid using disproportionate force against the working class, Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgic said Monday.
"We believe that dialogue is necessary for democracies and we call for French authorities and protesters to remain calm in order for the incident to be settled as soon as possible. We are also concerned about the increasingly harsh intervention of French security forces against protesters and we urge authorities to avoid the disproportionate use of force against demonstrators," Bilgiс said at a briefing as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper.
France is currently facing a series of nationwide protests in reaction to the much-discussed labor bill, which disrupted work at country's nuclear power plants, refineries, fuel depots, train services and ports. Among the reforms proposed by Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ government are highly unpopular attempts to increase daily working hours and simplify firing procedures.