Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan published an old video clip of him dating back nearly 20 years, challenging those he described as "wolves" who are stalking, sending a message defying them that they will not achieve their goal.
President Erdogan appears in the clip he posted on his official Facebook page in a public place, and sarcastically declaring to media professionals, "You prepared the table of wolves to devour us ... but do not charge us as adults, you will not be able to devour us," without indicating who he meant by his words.
President Erdogan's re-publication of the old passage came hours after the summit of leaders of southern European Union countries on the French island of Corsica, to "discuss the strategy of these countries in dealing with Turkey on the eastern Mediterranean file."
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Erdogan re-publishes an old video of him, in response to Macron and the summit of leaders of southern European Union countries on the French island of Corsica, to "discuss the strategy of these countries in dealing with Turkey regarding the eastern Mediterranean file" ... without naming them
A post shared by Hamza Tekin (@ hamza.tekin2023) on Sep 11, 2020 at 12:56 am PDT
What happened at the top?
French President Emmanuel Macron concluded the summit with a statement saying, "We believe that if Turkey does not go forward on the path of dialogue and put an end to its unilateral activities, the European Union is ready to draw up a list of additional restrictive measures that can be discussed in the European Council."
He added during his reading of the statement to the summit that includes France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and Portugal that if Ankara does not comply with these conditions and "refuses to listen to the logic," then European leaders will have "no other choice" but to impose "heavy sanctions" on it.
The French President stressed "the desire to initiate a responsible dialogue, and to find ways of balance ... without any naivety" and "good faith."
Prior to the summit, Macron called on European countries to speak with a voice indicating more "unity and clarity" towards Turkey, which is "no longer a partner" in the eastern Mediterranean, noting that Ankara is taking "unacceptable" behavior today.
Turkey's response was not late, accusing the French President in a statement by the Foreign Ministry of "endangering" the interests of Europe, and said that "Macron made again rude statements with an old colonial thought."
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşolu added, “We understand the solidarity between the countries of the European Union, but we do not accept that this is at the expense of our sovereignty and our rights. Let me confirm that we are ready to negotiate and dialogue with Greece and the European Union without preconditions.”
The Turkish minister affirmed that his country had previously demanded a fair distribution of energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean, saying, “We tried this and it did not succeed. Turkey was excluded from all initiatives and its rights, and now we have no choice but to take unilateral steps, and again, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, we are ready. To sit down and talk about the clear sharing with all the countries that have shores on the Mediterranean. "