Turkey says France's Macron endangers EU interests, playing colonial games

Turkey has condemned French President Emmanuel Macron over his “arrogant” remarks rooted in “colonial reflexes.”

In a statement made on Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Macron endangers EU interests with his “individual and nationalistic stance.”

Macron’s statement seeks “to give lessons by speaking pedantically with his old colonial reflexes,” the statement added.

Earlier today, ahead of a summit of EU Mediterranean states which excluded Turkey, Macron reportedly said: “We must be tough with the Turkish government and not with the Turkish people, who deserve more than the Erdogan government.”

Turkey's governing party also accused French President Emmanuel Macron of extending his country’s long history of colonialism.

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“Macron continues colonialism, while our President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] continues to defend the interests of the oppressed peoples, protect the peace, and frustrate the colonialists' games,” wrote Omer Celik, spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party, in a series of Tweets.

Turkey's foreign ministry added that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the leaders in Europe elected with the largest winning vote.

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“This is an old and immoral game of the colonialists. They offered a false show of love to exploit the people, but targeted patriotic leaders,” said Omer Celik.

Atrocities in Libya

Referring to the atrocities discovered after the retreat of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar – supported by Macron – Celik said: “Macron is responsible for Haftar's mass graves. Macron is now trying to play the colonial game in the Eastern Mediterranean using Greece.”

“Our president has always drawn his power from the Turkish people. The Turkish people and the government have always had one heart in the face of such delusions and will continue to do so,” the statement added.

Celik added that he is proud “that the colonialist mentality targets our president.”

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Turkey calls on France to “take a stand in favour 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,” the statement added.

“This is a requirement of our Europeanness and our NATO Alliance,” the ministry said, referring to Turkey and France both being members of NATO.

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Regional tensions have recently escalated over the issue of energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greece has disputed Turkey's energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, trying to box in Turkish maritime territory based on small islands near the Turkish coast. Macron has interceded in support of Athens, despite lacking any Eastern Mediterranean coastline.

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Turkey – the country with the longest coastline on the Mediterranean – has sent out drill ships to explore for energy on its continental shelf, saying that both Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have rights in the region.

Dialogue for sharing these resources fairly would be win-win for all sides, say Turkish officials.