On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had "colonial goals" in Lebanon, describing his recent visit to Beirut as a "showcase", amid escalating tension between Ankara and Paris over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
In a speech he delivered in Ankara during his participation in the meeting of the heads of the Justice and Development Party branches in the Turkish states, Erdogan said that "what Macron and his team want is the return of the colonial regime in Lebanon," adding, "As for us, we do not care about rushing to take pictures or show us the cameras."
Macron had visited Beirut, amid huge media coverage, last week, after the explosion that occurred on the fourth of this month and left a great deal of damage in the Lebanese capital, as well as killing 171 and wounding about 6,500.
The Turkish President did not personally visit Beirut, but last week he sent his deputy and his foreign minister to the Lebanese capital, and confirmed that Turkey showed its standing with the Lebanese people, through the mobilization of relevant Turkish institutions, ministries and civil organizations to help those affected by the Beirut port explosion.
He stated that the Turkish Ministry of Health brought all its medical supplies to Lebanon, while the TIKA Foundation provided 400 tons of grain to the residents of Lebanon.
Lebanon was under French colonialism from 1920 until its independence in 1943.
Erdogan's statements come amid an atmosphere of increasing tension between Turkey and France, against the background of gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and the file of the crisis in Libya. The Turkish exploration operations in this offshore region angered Greece and the European Union.
Paris condemned what it called "unilateral" actions of Ankara, and today announced the strengthening of its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean with the deployment of two fighters and two warplanes.
On the other hand, the Turkish pro-government newspapers expressed their dissatisfaction with this news, accusing France of "crossing the border" and "seeking war."
Erdogan did not comment directly on the French decision, but attacked "a country that does not border the eastern Mediterranean" without naming it, calling on him to "not think that it is bigger than it is."