The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned French President Emmanuel Macron's "arrogant" remarks regarding the EU's policy towards Ankara amid an escalation between Turkey and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying they endanger the bloc's interests, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2020) The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned French President Emmanuel Macron's "arrogant" remarks regarding the EU's policy towards Ankara amid an escalation between Turkey and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying they endanger the bloc's interests, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, ahead of the 7th Summit of the Southern Countries of the European Union (MED7), the French president, who has expressed support toward Greece, reportedly called on the bloc to be tough with the Turkish government, but not with the Turkish people, "who deserve more than the [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan government."
According to the news agency, citing the Turkish ministry's statement, the "individual and nationalistic stance" of the French president who sought to give lessons by speaking "pedantically with his old colonial reflexes" threatens the EU's interests in the region.
The ministry also noted that Erdogan was one of the leaders in Europe who was elected with the largest margin during an election, the news agency reported.
Within the context, the ministry called on France to "take a stand in favor of reconciliation and dialogue," instead of "blindly acting as advocates of Greece and the Greek Cypriots, who take unilateral and provocative steps and take the EU hostage for their narrow-minded interests."
Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean have been brewing for many months around Turkey's exploration for gas in waters, which Cyprus and Greece claim as their exclusive economic zones. The situation was exacerbated this summer, as Turkey sent an exploratory vessel accompanied by a fleet of military vessels to drill in Greece's continental shelf.
