Turkey on Friday accused France of acting like a bully and hit out at Greece as EU foreign ministers confronted an emerging crisis in the …
Turkey on Friday accused France of acting like a bully and hit out at Greece as EU foreign ministers confronted an emerging crisis in the energy-rich eastern Mediterranean. The search for oil and gas in disputed waters not far from Cyprus has pitted Turkey against its uneasy NATO ally Greece and the entire EU bloc. Turkey’s decision to send a scientific vessel accompanied by a small navy fleet into the volatile region on Monday prompted Greece to dispatch in its own military assets to observe what was going on. France on Thursday also announced it was “temporarily reinforcing” its presence in the eastern Mediterranean in support of Greece. That only further hurt France’s relations with Turkey — already damaged by opposing approaches to the Libya conflict and other parts of the Middle East — and saw the diplomatic rhetoric rise another notch. “France especially should avoid steps that will increase tensions,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on a visit to Switzerland. “They will not get anywhere by acting like bullies, whether in Libya, the northeast of Syria, in Iraq or the Mediterranean.” French President Emmanuel Macron retorted that his view on Libya and the Mediterranean were “convergent” to those of US President Donald Trump and UAE strongman Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. “Our interests in peace and security are common there,” Macron said in Paris.
