Tensions escalated between Paris and Ankara on Thursday in wake of statements issued by the French president and foreign ministers on Tuesday over Turkey’s operation in Syria’s Afrin region. Earlier this week, President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian both described Ankara’s offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as an “invasion” of Syrian territory. Turkish officials rejected the accusations with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu saying on Thursday that France and no other country has the right to give Turkey “lessons over Operation Olive Branch.” He said that the campaign targets “terrorist organizations in Syria’s Afrin and Aleppo countryside.” The operation’s objectives are clear and Ankara announced them before it was launched, he stressed. In addition, Cavusoglu said that he had relayed the objectives to Le Drian and Macron relayed them to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a telephone call. “Unfortunately, the statements on the operation reveal double standards adopted by the Europeans,” he continued. Moreover, Cavusoglu recalled France’s colonial history, a dark period that Paris has not yet shaken off. “We are not France that invaded Algeria,” he stressed. French forces invaded Algeria in 1832 and remained there until the country’s independence in 1962. Hundreds of thousands of Algerians were killed throughout this period and Paris has yet to apologize for its actions. Macron, on visit to Tunisia, attempted to ease the tensions by saying that Turkey only wants to “secure its borders and it will not go beyond the areas it is currently occupying. It will not remain in the region for long.” His statements contrasted however with those of the French Foreign Ministry, which again expressed its concern over Turkey’s intervention in Afrin and the humanitarian repercussions it is causing. “The Turkish operation, even if it were justified due to its legitimate security concerns, does not mean that it should exacerbate the humanitarian situation there,” added the ministry.