Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed anger at French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for Cyprus in its dispute over Turkey’s attempt to drill within the island’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Macron has also approved the arrest warrants issued by Cyprus on the crew of the Turkish drillship Fatih.
“Those who have the right to speak about the Eastern Mediterranean can speak. When did France have the right to speak on the Eastern Mediterranean? Do they have a coast in the Eastern Mediterranean?” Erdogan told a group of Turkish journalists while returning from an international conference in Tajikistan Saturday, according to Turkish daily Sabah.
“We are one of the guarantor countries in Cyprus. Greece and the United Kingdom are also the guarantor countries. What is France doing there?” Erdogan exclaimed, according to Sabah.
The Turkish President added that the people living in Cyprus, whether Turks or Greeks, had “equal rights and shares.”