France threatens Turkey with sanctions

France on Thursday condemned what it said were "declarations of violence" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and raised the possibility of new sanctions against Ankara.

"There are now declarations of violence, even hatred, which are regularly posted by president Erdogan which are unacceptable," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Europe 1 radio.

"It is not only France that is targeted, there is a total European solidarity on the subject – we want Turkey to renounce this logic," Al Jazeera cited Le Drian as saying.

The minister added that the European Council has already decided to take measures against the Turkish authorities, and "now it is important for the Turks to take the necessary measures to avoid this."