Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday accused France of "acting like bullies" in the eastern Mediterranean region and the Middle East.
"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 Mediterranean," Çavuşoğlu said on a visit to Switzerland.
Çavuşoğlu also said France should refrain from steps that escalate tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, where Ankara is embroiled in a dispute with Greece over Turkish oil and gas exploration in disputed waters.
Switzerland has offered to mediate in the row and Turkey has agreed in principle, Çavuşoğlu told a televised news conference with his Swiss counterpart in Bern, adding Greece will get a response if it provokes the Turkish Oruç Reis survey vessel in the region.
Turkey wants Greece to act with "common sense" in the eastern Mediterranean, where tensions are rising sharply over disputed waters, FM Çavuşoğlu said in a statement.
"Of course we do not wish to escalate, but Greece should act with common sense... We are always on the side of peaceful dialogue ," Çavuşoğlu concluded.
