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Muslims in Europe were exposed to a “lynching campaign” that was comparable to the persecution of “Jews before World War II,” Erdogan said. He accused the European heads of state and government of being “fascists in the true sense of the word” and “chains of National Socialism”. Europe must end the “Macron-controlled hate campaign” against Muslims.
The background for the blunt remarks is the dispute over Macron’s reaction to the alleged Islamist killing of a history professor near Paris last week. Macron had announced stricter controls on mosques and other Muslim institutions.
Macron’s comments on Islamism caused outrage in the Arab world; During the weekend there were protests and calls for a boycott against France in several Muslim countries. Erdogan accused Macron of Islamophobia and recommended that the president “examine his state of mind.” This, in turn, sparked outrage in the EU. In response to the verbal attacks, France called its Ankara ambassador in Paris for consultations, the OÖN reported.
Erdogan’s “new low” attacks
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) reaffirmed German solidarity with France in Berlin on Monday, calling Erdogan’s personal attacks on Macron a “new low” and “completely unacceptable.” “These are defamatory statements that are completely unacceptable,” said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin.
The president of the largest employers’ association Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, on Monday called boycotts against France in Muslim countries “bad news.” At the same time, he asked the association members to oppose such “blackmail”: “Our values count more than our business,” he told the RMC radio station.
Edtstadler: “unacceptable” attacks
European Minister Karoline Edtstadler (ÖVP) also expressed her solidarity with Paris. “President Erdogan’s recent attacks on President Macron are unacceptable and a trivialization of radical political Islam,” Edtstadler said in a broadcast on Monday. Once again it becomes clear that Turkey has no place in the European Union, said the minister.
