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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) defended French head of state Emmanuel Macron in the conflict over freedom of expression and Islamism. “As a Muslim, I am offended by certain cartoons,” Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargasch told the “Welt”. “But as a thinking person, I see the politics that are carried out around this issue.”
Gargasch criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He manipulates the issue because he wants to become the leader of Sunni Islam. “In truth, this is a political project, not a theological one,” Gargasch said. The Sunni United Arab Emirates, which recently established diplomatic relations with Israel, have considerable influence in the region, mostly because of its oil wealth, and apparently see Erdogan as a competitor.
The Turkish president is spreading “the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood” and wants to rebuild the Ottoman Empire, Gargasch said. “Like Iran, it has an imperialist policy and that is one of the main dangers in the region.” He referred to the Turkish military interventions in Iraq, Syria and Libya. “And Turkey is expanding everywhere at the expense of the Arabs,” he said.
Gargasch defended Macron. “One should listen to what Macron actually said in his speech,” he said. “He doesn’t want Muslims to be ghettos in the West, and he’s right.” France has the right to seek ways to integrate Muslims and fight militancy, he said.
Protests in Islamic countries
In Turkey and other Islamic countries, Macron had sparked outrage because he claimed that cartoons critical of religion were covered by freedom of expression. The occasion was the murder of a French teacher who had shown cartoons of Muhammad in class and was later beheaded by a suspected Islamist.
In Bangladesh, according to police reports, at least 50,000 people protested in the streets of the capital Dhaka to protest the publication of the Muhammad cartoons in France. Participants called for, among other things, a boycott of French products.
Some protesters burned a doll representing Macron. The Islamist group Hefasat-i-Islami called for the protest. According to the police, people could be prevented from approaching the French embassy. The organizers of the demonstration spoke of more than 100,000 participants.
