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The great French newspaper Le Figrao launches fire on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with two articles about what is happening in the Mediterranean.
The French newspaper dedicates its lead article to Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his “bad shots” with columnist Philippe Gélie wondering: “The Turkish president is not satisfied with the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque and now he wants to burn it down.” Nafpaktos? ».
“His navy is marching in the eastern Mediterranean, gunned down, at a time when tensions with Greece are at their peak,” he added, explaining the differences between the two countries that have faced them face to face in the eastern Mediterranean. 
The Figaro columnist wonders if “are we going to witness the first war, difficult to imagine, between two members of NATO?”, Recalling that “the Turkish president challenges Europeans to be willing to” sacrifice “those” witnesses “who are willing to” sacrifice “and himself”. And trying to explain the actions of the Turkish president, he claims that “Islamist-type nationalist populism constantly pushes him to make new enemies, among whom the Greek and French” greedy and incompetent leaders “are now emerging in a prominent position.”
Remember that what is happening in the Mediterranean during this period is not the only bad and wrong move by Erdogan. He quotes the long list: “The list of their wrongdoings is growing: blackmail of immigrants against Europe, occupation of northern Syria against the Kurds, armed intervention in Libya, purchase of a Russian anti-missile system, under the noses of the Americans. internal repression, which put thousands of Turks in jail and cost the life of lawyer Ebru Timtik, after a 238-day hunger strike “.
Philippe Gélie emphasizes that “for France, there can be no equivalence between Turkish crimes and Greece’s sometimes exaggerated maritime claims”.
“Emanuel Macron wants NATO to have the courage to speak with the Emperor of Ankara and for the EU to be strict enough to comply. In his duet with the chancellor, the Frenchman plays the role of a showy militarist, while Angela Merkel supports a sober dialogue His plan to get out of a dangerous escalation is to put an end to military provocations without delay and establish a moratorium on exploration in disputed waters. “No one has said it better so far,” he concludes.
In a second article in today’s issue entitled “Tensions in the Mediterranean: when the French and Turkish navies clash”, the French newspaper refers to an incident with the French frigate Tonnere carrying aid to Beirut “flexibly accompanied by a Turkish ship “, As stated by a diplomat.
“The episode further illustrates the mistrust that has developed in the eastern Mediterranean between France and Turkey,” the journalist said, noting that for months now, the Marines have been watching each other as Ankara pursues a policy of events. claim rights to natural gas resources in southern Cyprus through the movement of ships that violate the arms embargo in Libya.
He goes on to describe what the French ship Tonnerre observed while crossing the eastern Mediterranean when the Oruc Reis dropped cables to conduct a reconnaissance.
In August, Tonnerre took advantage of his passage to observe the operations of the seismic vessel Oruç Reis, whose controversial activity has rekindled tensions between Greece and Turkey. As they observe, “the distance between the Oruç Reis and the warships may not technically allow drilling operations” and, in any case, the exploitation of these resources will take years. Therefore, the Turkish demonstration of power at sea is fundamentally political and France, in the name of freedom of navigation and respect for international law, opposes and stands in favor of Greece.
However, as the Oruc Reis mission has been expanded, the Turkish Navy has decided to conduct live-fire exercises this week, warning foreign ships to avoid the area. “This type of military exercise is not unusual a priori. But in this context, it carries a political signal ”, explains Hugo Decis, IISS researcher and expert in the Eastern Mediterranean. The war warning is clear, but there is a difference with Greece, which also conducted an exercise at sea last week. “Turkey is alone, while Athens was able to involve France, Italy and Cyprus,” says the researcher. Greece is also stepping up military exercises to impress its Turkish rival, and the risk of an incident should not be underestimated. 
The “Eunomia” exercise was scheduled for March. It was then that Yavuz’s presence made the four countries want to be confirmed in the region. The frigate Lafayette joined the exercise, without having to travel much, since France has almost permanent frigates in the “Syrian channel”, in relation to its operations in the east. The aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle, which is returning to sea, is not currently scheduled to visit the area. The Defense Ministry wants to prevent an escalation.
To conclude, the Figaro columnist speaks of a delicate situation off the coasts of Egypt and Israel, with the presence of Russian and American ships, which, according to him, explains “the prudence of some.” If the British have bases in Cyprus, they stay away from tensions to protect their citizens in the northern part of the island, which has been controlled by Turkey since 1974. Italy, before participating in “Eunomia”, carried out a joint exercise with Turkey at sea; Roma wants to save the goat and the cabbage. “Like the United States, which conducted exercises with Turkish ships last week.”
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