Turkey accuses France of ‘bullying’ after Macron sent navy to Mediterranean

Turkey today accused France of acting like a ‘bully’ in a row over disputed Mediterranean waters. 

The search for oil and gas off Cyprus has stirred up tensions between Turkey, Greece and the EU, which have risen since Turkey sent a seismic vessel and a small navy fleet into the region on Monday. 

Greece has since dispatched its own military assets to observe what was going on, while France said it was ‘temporarily reinforcing’ its naval presence in support of Greece. 

Turkey says Greece is claiming an unfair share of the Mediterranean on the basis of a few tiny islands, but the EU is expected to back Greece’s claims in urgent talks today.  

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on a visit to Switzerland today that ‘France especially should avoid steps that will increase tensions… they will not get anywhere by acting like bullies, whether in Libya, the northeast of Syria, in Iraq or the Meditteranean.’ 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last night warned of a ‘heavy price’ to pay for those who threaten Turkey’s Oruc Reis research ship.

‘We can’t let even the smallest attack go without an answer,’ Erdogan reaffirmed on Friday, saying Turkey would respond strongly to any ‘harassment’ of its ships.  

Erdogan said ‘there was something like this’ that happened on Thursday but provided few details.

Another warship accompanying Oruc Reis ‘gave the necessary response. And then they withdrew to their ports,’ Erdogan said without saying which nation was involved. 

The Greek defence ministry denied being involved in any incident with the Oruc Reis.

Foreign minister Cavusoglu insisted that Turkey was looking for a peaceful solution to the crisis and was only expecting ‘common sense’ from Greece.

‘Of course we do not wish to escalate, but Greece should act with common sense,’ said Cavusoglu.

‘We are always on the side of peaceful dialogue.’ 

Turkey claims it has every right to drill in the area, as well as in neighbouring waters Cyprus considers its own, after the discovery of large offshore gas deposits in recent years off Israel, Egypt and Cyprus.  

EU foreign ministers are expected to reaffirm their support for Greece’s interpretation of maritime boundaries and to urge all sides to respect international law.

Greece placed its armed forces on high alert this week as relations between the historic rivals and nominal NATO allies hit a two-decade low.  

Erdogan’s ministers counter that Greece is using its control of a few tiny islands off the coast of Turkey to claim an outsized share of the Mediterranean Sea.

It also cites examples of past international agreements that gave the coastal power the right to waters despite another nation’s islands near its shores. 

French relations with Turkey, which is not an EU member, are already strained over Ankara’s involvement in Libya’s civil war. 

Germany has taken a leading role in trying to mediate the dispute.

Erdogan had followed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s urgings and suspended the Oruc Reis mission last month to give talks another chance.

Greece then signed a maritime agreement with Egypt that appeared aimed at countering a similarly controversial one Turkey had signed with the UN-recognised government in Libya last year.

The Egyptian deal was quickly followed by Erdogan’s decision to push ahead with the Oruc Reis mission this week.

‘These tensions are worrying,’ Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Friday.

‘What’s important is de-escalation’ and for countries ‘to talk directly to each other’.

Erdogan said he agreed with Merkel by telephone on Thursday to ‘develop a process of protective understanding’ with Greece.

‘Merkel after speaking to me spoke to [Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis]. I hope she has expressed the line to him discussed with us.’