A few hours before a summit with his counterparts from the south of the EU, Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged Europe to speak with one voice and to be "firm" against Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.
For its part, Ankara denounced statements "arrogant, in an old colonialist reflex".
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged Europe to speak with one voice and be "firm" against Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean, a few hours from a summit with his southern EU counterparts on tensions in the area.
"Europe must have a more united and clear voice" against Turkey
"Europe must have a more united and clearer voice" vis-à-vis Turkey, declared the head of state in Porticcio in Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean.
"We Europeans must be clear and firm with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which today has unacceptable behavior", and must "clarify its intentions", he insisted, while there is no no united European position on the subject.
Turkey "is no longer a partner in this region", he lamented, while stressing his "deep wish" to "re-engage in a fruitful dialogue".
The French president had already deplored on Wednesday the "imperialist temptations of some great Mediterranean powers" and called on Europe to defend its "energy, geostrategic interests" in this area.
“European sovereignty” is at stake, emphasizes those around him.
Very involved in this file, Emmanuel Macron will discuss it with the Italian leaders Giuseppe Conte, Spanish Pedro Sanchez, Greek Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Portuguese Antonio Costa, Cypriot Nikos Anastasiades and Maltese Robert Abela.
Ankara denounces "arrogant" statements
For its part, Turkey denounced the "arrogant" statements of the French president.
"Emmanuel Macron has once again made arrogant statements, in an old colonialist reflex", declared the Turkish Foreign Ministry, adding that the French head of state "promotes tensions and endangers the interests of Europe and the European Union ".
"Macron attacks Turkey and our president every day because we foil his insidious plans and his dirty foreign policy games," the Turkish ministry added.
"Instead of posing blindly as the advocate of Greece and the Greek Cypriots (..), France should adopt a position favoring reconciliation and dialogue", he continued.
Emmanuel Macron's comments that the Turkish people "deserve something else" seem to have been seen by Ankara as an attempt to pit the Turkish people against President Erdogan.
"Our President of the Republic is one of the elected leaders with the highest percentage of votes in Europe. Our President has always drawn his strength from the Turkish people. The Turkish people and their government have always been united in the face of this kind of delirium and will continue to be, "said the Foreign Ministry.