French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday condemned what he said were "declarations of violence" by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and raised the possibility of new sanctions against Ankara.
Erdogan has been feuding bitterly with French President Emmanuel Macron on a number of geopolitical flashpoints and, more recently, France's fight against extremism.
"There are now declarations of violence, even hatred, which are regularly posted by president Erdogan which are unacceptable," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio.
Turkey vowed Wednesday to deliver a firm response to France's ban of the Turkish ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves group linked to a top ally of Erdogan.
The far-right group is seen as a wing of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Turkish parliament.
The Turkish foreign ministry said the French government had to "protect the freedom of assembly and expression of Turks in France.”
"We will respond in the firmest way possible to this decision," it said.
The French cabinet formally disbanded the group's local offshoot after a memorial center to mass killings of Armenians during World War I was defaced at the weekend with graffiti including the name of the Grey Wolves.
"It is not only France that is targeted, there is a total European solidarity on the subject -- we want Turkey to renounce this logic," Le Drian said Thursday.
The European Council, he added, 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.
"There are means of pressure, there is an agenda of possible sanctions."
