French Foreign Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be summoned to the Turkish ambassador to Paris for explanations of "insulting" remarks against President Emmanuel Macron, the Elysee palace said Friday.
The French presidency described Erdogan's comments in which he said his French counterpart in the case of "brain death" as insults and not statements, and said it would summon the Turkish ambassador for clarification.
The Elysee said there was no "comment on the insults," adding that Macron was waiting for Ankara "clear responses." "There is the question of the Turkish operation in Syria and its repercussions, and the possible return of ISIS (Islamic State), but also there are other issues that must be answered from Turkey," he added.
Erdogan said the French president's warning that NATO was suffering from "clinical death" reflected a "sick and shallow" understanding and that he had to ascertain whether he himself suffered from "clinical death."
Erdogan's comments came in retaliation for Macron's criticism on Thursday of Turkey's "spring of peace" operation last month in northeast Syria against the Western-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers "terrorist".
Erdogan's comments reflected an escalation in tension between NATO and Turkey, a member of the same alliance, ahead of a crucial NATO summit next week in London.
A meeting will be held on the sidelines of the summit between Erdogan and Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss Syria.
Western countries criticized the Turkish operation. "We are seeing aggression from a NATO partner in our region of interest at stake, without coordination," Macron said in an interview.