France reacts to boycott calls; Erdogan ups Macron insultsFrench authorities have denounced Turkish “propaganda” against France that they said was aimed at fanning hate at home and abroad and say calls to boycott French products need to cease immediately
October 25, 2020, 7:16 PM
4 min read
PARIS -- French authorities denounced Turkish “propaganda” against France that they said was aimed at fanning hate at home and abroad, and asked Sunday for calls to boycott French products cease immediately, saying such attacks were the work of a “radical minority.”
Meanwhile, the president of Turkey took a second insulting swipe at French President Emmanuel Macron in a growing, potentially high-risk dispute.
A day after saying that Macron needed his head examined for condoning caricatures of the prophet of Islam, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that the French leader has “lost his way.”
In an unusual move, France announced Saturday it was recalling its ambassador for consultations.
The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday evening that its diplomats were mobilizing to ask countries where boycotts were being organized or hate calls issued not to back them, and to provide assurances that French citizens would be safe.
“In numerous countries of the Middle East, calls to boycott French products...and more generally, calls to demonstrate against France, in sometimes hateful terms, have been relayed on social media,” the French Foreign Ministry said. It added that such calls “denature” France's positions on freedom of expression and conscience.
Meanwhile, Pakistan and a bloc of Muslim nations condemned, without using insults, remarks by Macron last week in which he refused to condemn the publication or showing of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
France considers religious satire to be among the kinds of speech that fall under the freedom of expression, while many Muslims consider any perceived attack on their prophet as a grave offense. An 18-year=old of Chechen origin beheaded near Paris on Oct. 16 a teacher who had shown caricatures of Muhammad in class.
While eulogizing the teacher, Macron said last would that France will not renounce its freedoms.
The Turkish leader criticized his French counterpart during a party congress on Saturday, questioning the state of Macron's mental health. The French presidency reacted with indignation, but Erdogan did not back off.
“The person in charge of France has lost his way,” Erdogan said Sunday. “He goes on about Erdogan while in bed and while awake. Look at yourself first and where you’re going. I said yesterday...he is a case, and he really must be examined.”
The evening statement by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced “hateful and slanderous propaganda against France showing a wish to fan hate against us and among us,” an apparent reference to potential reaction from France’s Muslim population, the largest in Western Europe.
