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RIGHT OF IMPRINT: Erdogan appears on the cover of the latest issue of the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo at a newsstand in Paris on Wednesday. Photo: Mohammed Badra / EPA
Turkish authorities announced Wednesday that they would take legal and diplomatic steps to respond to a cartoon of President Erdogan that was printed on the same day.
The drawing was printed on Wednesday in the satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, and shows Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan in underwear and a white T-shirt that reaches to his stomach.
In the drawing, Erdogan is holding a box of drinks and lifting the skirt of a woman wearing a hijab.
“A disgusting attempt to spread racism and cultural hatred,” Turkish authorities said, according to Reuters.
IN THE FREEZER BOX: The relationship between the two heads of state, Tayyip Recep Erdogan and Emmanuel Macron, can more easily be described as “cool” rather than “loving.” Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP
Condemn the drawing
In a press release, the Turkish Communications Directorate condemns the president’s drawing.
They also accuse both French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders of “hiding behind values such as freedom of expression, democracy and diversity.”
After the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty, French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out in favor of defending freedom of expression in the country.
PIG: Emmanuel Macron is depicted as a pig on a billboard in the Syrian city of Azaz, south of the border with Turkey. Photo: BAKR ALKASEM / AFP
Paty was assassinated after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his schoolchildren, which the president has championed ever since.
“We don’t want to give up on our comics,” Macron said earlier this week.
He has also called for a “French Islam”, a wording that the Turkish president has not appreciated.
In the region I protest
The drawing depicting Erdogan is thus just the latest line of conflict in an increasingly heated rhetoric between Turkey and France.
Recently, they have been arguing about the war in Nagorno-Karabakh and the change of the status of the Hagia Sophia national shrine from a secular museum to a mosque.
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Erdogan in Turkey has accused his French counterpart of promoting anti-Muslim attitudes after the murder of teacher Samuel Paty. He has also recommended a boycott of French products.
Earlier this week, it peaked when Erdogan declared that Emmanuel Macron He “needs treatment” for his mental health.
– What else can you say to a head of state who does not understand freedom of religion and behaves in this way with millions of people living in his country with a different faith? Erdogan asked rhetorically in a speech.
PROTEST: Protesters in Iran’s capital Tehran burn a photo of Emmanuel Macron.
This prompted France to withdraw diplomatic envoys from Turkey.
Anti-French attitudes have spread to large parts of the region. Demonstrations against Macron’s handling have taken place in cities in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, among others.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that insulting the Prophet could lead to “violence and bloodshed.” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also accused Macron of “attacking Islam.”
