French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to form a united front in addressing what he described as Turkey's "unacceptable" conduct in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Speaking from Corsica on Thursday, ahead of a summit of Mediterranean countries currently allied against Ankara's hydrocarbon exploration in the contested waters, the French president said their NATO ally was no longer a partner in the area.

He added that Turkey's people "deserved something" different from the way the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was currently behaving, prompting Turkey's foreign office to describe Macron's address as "arrogant" and a sign "of his own weakness and despair."

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France has backed Greece and Cyprus in a tense altercation with Ankara over hydrocarbon resources and territorial rights in the eastern Mediterranean, sparking fears of a more serious stand-off.

The crisis is one of many areas of conflict between Turkey and Europe, including Ankara's military involvement in Libya and its diverging policies in Syria.

"We Europeans need to be clear and firm with the government of President Erdogan, which today is behaving in an unacceptable manner," Macron said from Corsica. 

He added that at the moment Ankara was "no longer a partner in the region" of the eastern Mediterranean, although he expressed his wish to "restart a fruitful dialogue with Turkey."

Macron went on to accuse Ankara of "intensified provocations in a way that is not worthy of a great state. The Turkish people are a great people and deserve something else."

The Turkish foreign ministry responded by saying that Macron's approach "puts Europe and the EU's great interests in jeopardy," adding that the French president "has again made an arrogant … statement."

Hydrocarbon disputes/new alliances

The EuroMed 7 is an informal group of European Mediterranean states – France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Cyprus – often called "Club Med," which first came together in 2016.

Rallying around their shared interests in the recent discovery of hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean, the EU countries have not invited Turkey to sit at the table. 

This has in turn led to a growing stand-off over drilling rights in the oil and hydrogen-rich waters, with Turkey rejecting the EU countries' claims over the size of their "Exclusive Economic Zones" around their islands in the Mediterranean. 

Tensions have grown after Turkey deployed an exploration vessel backed by military frigates in waters between Greece and Cyprus last month. Analysts saw the decision as a direct response to Athens' move to sign a deal with Egypt agreeing their respective exclusive rights for hydrocarbon exploration in areas of the Mediterranean claimed by Turkey. 

A French presidential official said Macron would seek to "make progress in the consensus on the relationship of the EU with Turkey" ahead of an upcoming EU summit on 24 and 25 September.

Some EU member states are set to press for sanctions against Turkey at the EU summit, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian saying at the weekend such measures were on the table.

"If Turkey refuses to listen to reason before then, I don't see any choice for my European colleagues except significant sanctions," said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who, since his election last year, has formed a renewed alliance with Macron. 

Meanwhile Greek media are saying France's possible sale of Rafale fighter jets to Athens could be on the table, a sign of the growing ties between the two countries.