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After the recent verbal attack by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on French President Emmanuel Macron, France has called its ambassador in Ankara for consultations for the first time. Turkey’s behavior is “unacceptable,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
At a congress of his AKP party on Saturday, Erdogan lashed out at “worrying signs of growing Islamophobia in Europe.”
“What kind of problem does this person named Macron have with Islam and Muslims?” Erdogan asked at the event. “Macron needs psychological treatment,” the Turkish president added. His French counterpart does not understand freedom of belief.
What annoys Erdogaan: Macron declared war on radical Islamism in France after the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty a week ago. Paty was murdered by an 18-year-old with Russo-Chechen roots after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class. The Turkish head of state sees France’s stricter approach primarily as “Islamophobia.”
There was no condemnation of the act or solidarity for France by Turkey, it said in the Paris communication. In recent days “hateful and slanderous propaganda against France” had been added. There was a desire to incite hatred against France, according to Le Drian. Furthermore, there are direct insults against Macron from “the highest level of the Turkish state.”
