Turkey condemns French caricature featuring Erdogan
Erdogan sharply criticised Macron at weekend, saying the French leader needed mental health check
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Top Turkish officials condemned a caricature of President Tayyip Erdogan in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, calling it a “disgusting effort” to “spread its cultural racism and hatred”.
Turkish anger at the caricature added fuel to a row between Turkey and France about the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), which flared after a teacher who had shown pupils the cartoons in a lesson on freedom of speech was beheaded in France this month.
“We strongly condemn the publication concerning our President in the French magazine which has no respect for any belief, sacredness and values,” presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin wrote on Twitter.
“They are just showing their own vulgarity and immorality. An attack on personal rights is not humour and freedom expression,” he said.
“We condemn this most disgusting effort by this publication to spread its cultural racism and hatred,” Turkish presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter.
Erdogan sharply criticised Macron at the weekend, saying the French leader needed a mental health check, prompting France to recall its ambassador from Ankara. On Monday, Erdogan urged a boycott of French products.
