Al Jazeera News :
Turkey has condemned Emmanuel Macron over “arrogant” remarks made with “colonial reflexes” after the French president intervened in a brewing crisis between Ankara and Athens over Eastern Mediterranean exploration rights.
In a statement on Thursday, the Turkish foreign ministry said Macron endangers EU interests with his “individual and nationalistic stance”.
Macron seeks “to give lessons by speaking pedantically with his old colonial reflexes”, the statement added.
Earlier on Thursday, Macron stepped up anti-Turkey rhetoric amid his discussions with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Both Macron and Mitsotakis are attending a MED7 summit on the French island of Corsica along with the leaders of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Malta.
Macron urged Europe to adopt a “united and clear voice” on its policy towards Turkey, declaring Ankara is “no longer a partner” in light of its conduct in the Mediterranean and Libya.
“We Europeans need to be clear and firm” with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his “unacceptable behaviour”, Macron told reporters ahead of the summit.
There are growing fears of a conflict erupting by accident, with the two countries locked in a decades-long dispute as they compete for control of oil and gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey on August 10 deployed the Oruc Reis research vessel and an escorting flotilla of warships to the waters between Cyprus and the Greek islands of Kastellorizo and Crete. The vessel’s stay in the contested waters has been extended three times.
Greece responded by staging naval exercises with several EU allies and the United Arab Emirates, not far from smaller manoeuvres Turkey conducted recently between Cyprus and Crete.
The French-Turkish spat came as Greece raised the prospect of economic sanctions on Turkey.
Mitsotakis said in an opinion piece on Thursday the European Union must impose sanctions on Turkey unless Ankara pulls its maritime assets from disputed areas in the eastern Mediterranean.
“Later this month EU leaders will meet in special session to decide how to respond,” Mitsotakis wrote, in a column published on Thursday in the London Times, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and France’s Le Monde newspapers.
“If Turkey refuses to see sense by then, I see no option but for my fellow European leaders to impose meaningful sanctions. Because this is no longer just about European solidarity.
Turkey has condemned Emmanuel Macron over “arrogant” remarks made with “colonial reflexes” after the French president intervened in a brewing crisis between Ankara and Athens over Eastern Mediterranean exploration rights.
In a statement on Thursday, the Turkish foreign ministry said Macron endangers EU interests with his “individual and nationalistic stance”.
Macron seeks “to give lessons by speaking pedantically with his old colonial reflexes”, the statement added.
Earlier on Thursday, Macron stepped up anti-Turkey rhetoric amid his discussions with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Both Macron and Mitsotakis are attending a MED7 summit on the French island of Corsica along with the leaders of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Malta.
Macron urged Europe to adopt a “united and clear voice” on its policy towards Turkey, declaring Ankara is “no longer a partner” in light of its conduct in the Mediterranean and Libya.
“We Europeans need to be clear and firm” with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his “unacceptable behaviour”, Macron told reporters ahead of the summit.
There are growing fears of a conflict erupting by accident, with the two countries locked in a decades-long dispute as they compete for control of oil and gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey on August 10 deployed the Oruc Reis research vessel and an escorting flotilla of warships to the waters between Cyprus and the Greek islands of Kastellorizo and Crete. The vessel’s stay in the contested waters has been extended three times.
Greece responded by staging naval exercises with several EU allies and the United Arab Emirates, not far from smaller manoeuvres Turkey conducted recently between Cyprus and Crete.
The French-Turkish spat came as Greece raised the prospect of economic sanctions on Turkey.
Mitsotakis said in an opinion piece on Thursday the European Union must impose sanctions on Turkey unless Ankara pulls its maritime assets from disputed areas in the eastern Mediterranean.
“Later this month EU leaders will meet in special session to decide how to respond,” Mitsotakis wrote, in a column published on Thursday in the London Times, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and France’s Le Monde newspapers.
“If Turkey refuses to see sense by then, I see no option but for my fellow European leaders to impose meaningful sanctions. Because this is no longer just about European solidarity.
