Islamist Turkish dailies draw ire after Charlie Hebdo attack

Islamist Turkish dailies draw ire after Charlie Hebdo attack

ISTANBUL
Islamist Turkish dailies draw ire after Charlie Hebdo attack

AFP Photo

Two Islamist newspapers in Turkey have drawn ire on social media with their headlines that “justified” the deadly attack on a French satirical newspaper.

Hours after gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest), Yeni Akit newspaper chose the title, “Attack on the magazine that provoked Muslims.”

Islamist Turkish dailies draw ire after Charlie Hebdo attack

Several reader comments also appeared on Yeni Akit’s Facebook page, which hailed the bloodshed as “revenge” for the magazine’s decision to publish cartoons that criticized the Prophet Mohammad.

“I hope they will continue [to kill] infidels,” said one reader on the website, while another reader wrote “Thanks to those who did it.”

The newspaper then changed the headline of the story to “the great provocation in Paris.”

Türkiye, another newspaper close to the Turkish government, chose the headline: “Attack on the magazine that insulted our Prophet.”

After a flood of reactions on Twitter, including ones that accuse it of “justifying a terror attack,” the newspaper changed the headline to “Attack on the magazine that published ugly cartoons of our Prophet.”


“The timing of the attack is interesting. Is it the cost of recognizing Palestine as a state?” the same newspaper asked in the title of another story. 

France’s lower house, senators in the upper house of the French parliament, approved a resolution calling on Paris to recognize a Palestinian state last month.