Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 17, 2020. -

AFP

The tension rose further this Thursday between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron.

The Turkish president attacked his French counterpart, calling him "ambitious incapable" because of his firm support for Greece in the crisis which opposes Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.

During a video conference with the local leaders of his party, the Turkish president justified his strong foreign policy and attacked the French head of state in particular, who has recently increased criticism against him.

Particularly deteriorated relationships

“Why is Turkey in Syria, Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, some ask.

(…) If Turkey gives up everything, could France get rid of the disorder that the ambitious incompetent who leads it and embrace a policy of common sense?

», He affirmed.

Relations between Paris and Ankara have deteriorated considerably in recent weeks due to France's support for Greece in the conflict between it and Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey is claiming the right to exploit hydrocarbon deposits in a maritime area that Athens considers to be under its sovereignty.

The two countries have shown their muscles with martial declarations, military maneuvers and shipments to the area.

Deployment of warships

France has clearly shown its support for Greece by deploying warships and fighter jets in the region, an initiative strongly denounced by the Turkish president.

The tone between the two countries rose last week when the French head of state declared that "the Turkish people who are a great people deserve something else", in an apparent allusion to the actions of the Turkish government and their consequences.

In a second speech, Erdogan said his country, which the EU is threatening with sanctions, would not bow to "the language of threat".

"Our interlocutors understood that the language of the threat leads nowhere and that Turkey will not submit to blackmail and banditry", he said.

He also reiterated Turkey's refusal to be "imprisoned inside its coasts while it has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean", a phrase used by Turkish officials in support of maritime claims to 'Ankara.

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Tensions in the Mediterranean: Turkey denounces the "arrogant" declarations of Emmanuel Macron

  • Mediterranean

  • World

  • Diplomacy

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Turkey

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan