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On Sunday, a boycott of French products began in several Arab countries. The background is the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron about the cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Merchants from Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar brought French goods out of their stores.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also launched a verbal attack on Macron. He accused the French president of Islamophobia, doubted his mental health and called Macron, among other things, a case of illness that should be examined. Paris called its ambassador from Ankara in protest.
“We will move on”
The background is the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday. He had defended freedom of expression and had sided with those who want to show or publish cartoons. France will not “do without cartoons and drawings, even if others withdraw from them,” Macron said at a memorial service honoring the slain teacher Samuel Paty. He had shown caricatures of Muhammad in class and was beheaded on the street. Islamic tradition forbids representing the prophet.
Macron defended his position on freedom of expression on Twitter Sunday night. Hate speech is not accepted and reasonable debate is defended. “We will always be on the side of human dignity and basic values.” Macron also spread the message in Arabic and English. “Our history is that of the struggle against tyranny and fanaticism. We will continue,” he wrote in French.
The Muhammad cartoons had already sparked violent protests in the Islamic world several times. Relations between the Muslim world and France could deteriorate. Erdogan’s verbal attack on Macron also exacerbates bilateral tensions between NATO partners Turkey and France.
In light of Macron’s remarks, the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo warned against a campaign against Islam. In Kuwait, 50 consumer cooperatives said they had withdrawn all French products from their branches, according to the “Al-Kabas” newspaper. Also in Qatar, supermarket chains have announced that they will remove French products from their shelves until further notice. Videos could be seen on social media of employees at a supermarket in Amman, the Jordanian capital, removing French dairy products from refrigerated shelves. Users spread the French brand names on the internet and called for a boycott, and the hashtags were also circulating.
France called for an immediate end to calls for boycotts. These would distort the positions defended by France in favor of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and religion, as well as the rejection of any call to hatred, he said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry. The statements are being used by a radical minority.
Fatal attack on Charlie Hebdo
In early 2006, more than 150 people died in violent protests against the Muhammad cartoons. The trigger at that time was the cartoons of the Danish newspaper “Jyllands-Posten”. In 2015, twelve people were killed in an attack on the French satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo”, which also featured cartoons of the prophet. For devout Muslims, films or images depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a person are offensive and a form of blasphemy.
The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the publication of satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet. Such behavior “damages Muslim-French relations.” The Grand Imam of Cairo, Ahmed al-Tajib, spoke of a systematic campaign to force Islam into political struggles. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the posts hurt the feelings of Muslims. Pakistan’s prime minister accused Macron of Islamophobia in a series of tweets. “President Macron has attacked and hurt the feelings of millions of Muslims in Europe and around the world,” he wrote.
“What problem does this person named Macron have with Islam and Muslims?” Erdogan asked at an event on Saturday. Macron should be in psychological treatment, the Turkish president added. His French counterpart does not understand freedom of belief. At the same event, Erdogan also described a police raid on a Berlin mosque on Wednesday as anti-Islamic due to suspected crown subsidy fraud.
Insults against Macron from “the highest level of the Turkish state”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said there was a desire to incite hatred against France. This was also expressed in direct insults against Macron from “the highest level of the Turkish state”. Paris also criticized the Turkish side for not officially condemning the teacher’s murder or showing solidarity with France.
Turkey rejected the accusation Sunday night. The Turkish ambassador in Paris expressed regret, said a statement from the Foreign Ministry. Turkey regrets the “murder” of the teacher “as a country that has been fighting all forms of terrorism and violence for years,” as well as the victims of similar events, he said.
