“I call on my people here. Never give credit to French-labeled products, don’t buy them,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined calls for a boycott of French products on Monday, escalating the confrontation between France and Muslim countries over Islam and freedom of expression.
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Erdogan has led the charge against President Emmanuel Macron for his strong defense of the right to make fun of religion following the murder of a French school teacher who had shown his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
‘Mental controls are needed’
On Monday, the Turkish leader added his voice to calls in the Arab world for citizens to reject French products.
“Never give credit to French-labeled products, don’t buy them,” said Erdogan, who caused a stir at the weekend by declaring that Macron needed “mind controls”, during a televised speech in Ankara.
Also read: France reacts to boycott calls; Erdogan raises Macron’s insults
French products have already been pulled from supermarket shelves in Qatar and Kuwait, among other Gulf states, while in Syria people have burned photographs of Macron and French flags have been set on fire in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
The October 16 beheading of high school teacher Samuel Paty by a Chechen extremist caused a deep shock in France.
Paty had shown her students some of the Muhammad cartoons for which 12 people were massacred in the satirical magazine. Charlie hebdo in 2015.
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In the wake of Paty’s assassination, Macron issued a passionate defense of France’s freedom of expression and secular values, vowing that the country “will not give up cartoons.”
As the backlash over France’s backlash widens, European leaders rallied behind Macron.
European support
German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned Erdogan’s “defamatory” comments about the French leader.
The prime ministers of the Netherlands and Greece also expressed their support for France, as did the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
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On Monday, Erdogan compared the treatment of Muslims in Europe to that of Jews before World War II, saying they were the target of a “lynching campaign.”
