President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday denounced the view that Europe is a "garden" and the rest of the world is "wild."

Speaking at the MÜSIAD Expo 2022 in Istanbul, Erdoğan said: "We do not expect those who carry out colonialism using new ways and methods to have a conscientious attitude towards crises."

The president was referring to the recent comments by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who called Europe "a garden" and most of the world a "jungle" that "could invade the garden" during a speech in October.

"The gardeners should take care of the garden, but they will not protect the garden by building walls. A nice small garden surrounded by high walls in order to prevent the jungle coming in is not going to be a solution. Because the jungle has a strong growth capacity, and the wall will never be high enough," said Borrell, a Spanish politician.

"The gardeners have to go to the jungle. Europeans have to be much more engaged with the rest of the world. Otherwise, the rest of the world will invade us," he said.

At a later press conference, Borrell denied that his message was racist or colonialist, news agency EFE reported. The comments were intended to reject the idea of "fortress Europe" and to encourage students to engage with the world, he said.