Turkey Snaps Back at Macron’s ‘Insults’ over Syria Operation

This October 24, 2017 file photo shows Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaking during a joint news conference after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Ankara, Turkey. (AP)
This October 24, 2017 file photo shows Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaking during a joint news conference after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Ankara, Turkey. (AP)
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Turkey Snaps Back at Macron’s ‘Insults’ over Syria Operation

This October 24, 2017 file photo shows Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaking during a joint news conference after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Ankara, Turkey. (AP)
This October 24, 2017 file photo shows Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaking during a joint news conference after talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Ankara, Turkey. (AP)

Turkey on Thursday fired back at remarks made by French President Emmanuel Macron about Ankara’s military operation against Kurds in northern Syria, describing them as "insults.”

Macron on Wednesday warned Turkey that the operation in the Afrin region should not become an excuse to invade Syria and that he wanted Ankara to coordinate its action with its NATO allies.

Turkey launched the air and ground offensive, dubbed "Operation Olive Branch", nearly two weeks ago to target the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Afrin.

But the incursion has put pressure on relations with the West, particularly the United States, which has backed the Kurdish fighters and has its own troops on the ground supporting them in other parts of Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that France was in no position to "teach a lesson" to Turkey.

"We are using our right to self defense, this is in line with UN Security Council decisions and not an invasion. They shouldn't be two-faced," he told reporters in Ankara.

France, like the United States, has extended arms and training to a YPG-led militia in the fight against ISIS in Syria. That has infuriated Turkey, which considers the YPG a terrorist organization and an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighting an insurgency inside Turkey. 



Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
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Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS

Greece's government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that ... it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

According to The Associated Press, the suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said. “The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.