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Wednesday, October 28, 2020
“In private it’s a lot of fun” is how the French satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” titled a cartoon of the Turkish president. But Erdogan cannot laugh at that. He not only wants to take legal action against the newspaper, but he also announces diplomatic steps. An investigation is already underway in Ankara.
Turkey has announced legal and diplomatic measures following the publication of a cartoon of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by the French satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo”. The Turkish Presidential Office announced that “necessary” measures would be taken against the “vile caricature”. The drawing reflects “hostility towards the Turks and Islam”. The Ankara Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the management of “Charlie Hebdo”.
“Charlie Hebdo” posted a cartoon on the cover of its Wednesday issue showing Erdogan in a shirt and boxer shorts with a can of beer. Erdogan then lifts the skirt of a veiled woman with the words “Ooh, the Prophet” and reveals her bare butt. The cartoon is titled with the words: “Erdogan: in private is a lot of fun.” The number was posted online Tuesday night.
Erdogan’s spokesman accused the newspaper on Tuesday of “cultural racism” and of spreading hateful messages. “We condemn this appalling effort by the publication to spread its racism and cultural hatred,” Fahrettin Altun wrote on the online service Twitter.
Protests against Macron and France
Erdogan’s cartoon in the satirical newspaper fueled the latest escalating dispute between French President Emmanuel Macron and the Turkish head of state. The latest tensions were sparked by Macron’s statements in defense of freedom of expression after the Islamist attack on a teacher near Paris who was showing Muhammad cartoons from “Charlie Hebdo” in his class.
The French president then underlined freedom of expression and said that those cartoons would continue to be shown in France. In response, Erdogan called for a boycott of French products and asked Macron to examine his “state of mind.” Macron’s statements were also subject to strong criticism in other Muslim countries. There was a wave of anti-French protests; Among other things, more than 40,000 people took to the streets in Bangladesh on Tuesday.
