France News

Charlie Hebdo’s latest caricature of Erdogan sparks Turkish outrage

October 28, 2020
The Commune

Coming amidst the spat between France and Turkey following the beheading of the French school teacher Samuel Paty by an Islamist inspired by ISIS, the French satirical magazine Charle Hebdo has published another controversial caricature of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

This brutal caricature of the Turkish ruler that was published over a front-page in its latest edition comes after Erdogan questioned the mental health of Macron for insulting Muslims and Islam. 

The front-page caricature of Wednesday’s (October 28) edition of Charlie Hebdo scathingly shows Erdogan in a t-shirt and underpants, drinking a can of beer (alcohol is forbidden in Islam) and lifting up the hijab of a woman to reveal her naked bottom.

The caption translated from French Reads, “Ooh, the prophet!” the character says in a speech bubble, while the title proclaims “Erdogan: in private, he’s very funny”.

Immediately Erdogan’s top press aide, Fahrettin Altun sent out a tweet, “We condemn this most disgusting effort by this publication to spread its cultural racism and hatred,”. 

In another tweet sent by Altun, he said, “French President Macron’s anti-Muslim agenda is bearing fruit! Charlie Hebdo just published a series of so-called cartoons full of despicable images purportedly of our President.”  

This has triggered a wave of protest by Ummah, the solidarity among the whole community of Muslims bound together by ties of religion. In light of this, France has cautioned its citizens living in or traveling to Islamic countries to be careful and take additional safety measures, Reuters reported.

There has been an exchange of barbs between the French President and the Turkish President after the brutal beheading of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty by a suspected Islamist who had apparently been irked by the teacher’s portrayal of Prophet Mohammad.

The Turkish President in a televised speech said that Muslims were now “subjected to a lynch campaign similar to that against Jews in Europe before World War II and European leaders should tell the French president to stop his hate campaign”.

Macron said that the teacher, Samuel Paty, was killed because Islamists wanted France’s future and that France would not give up the right to freedom of expression. He also pledged to fight against “Islamist separatism” that threatened Muslim communities around France.

A few days ago, the cartoons of Mohammed that were published in Charlie Hebdo was projected on the wall of a government building in France much to the anger of Muslims around the world. 

In 2015, two brothers, Muslim jihadists who were inspired by the ISIS attack killed 12 people dead, including some of its most famed cartoonists who worked for the publication. 

The relationship between France and Turkey has also taken a geopolitical turn to the worst due to the ongoing Greek-Turkish maritime dispute and also the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

The French foreign ministry has issued a safety instruction for citizens of France in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iraq and Mauritania and in an official statement have said, “It is recommended to exercise the greatest vigilance, especially while travelling, and in places that are frequented by tourists or expatriate communities,”.

In another development, Pakistan decided to recall its ambassador from Paris, however, it turned out that Islamabad had never sent its envoy in the first place. Erdogan who is now very popular in Pakistan has urged Turks and fellow Muslims to boycott French products amid a wave of anti-France protests in Muslim-majority countries.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan sent out a tweet in which he said, “Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings, as Mandela did, rather than dividing them.” Khan went on to accuse Macron that he encourages “Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence”.