President Erdoğan calls for boycott of French goods

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 26 called on Turks to boycott French goods as he continued sharp criticism of French leader Emmanuel Macron over his attitude towards Muslims.

“As it has been said in France, ‘don’t buy Turkish-labelled goods,’ I call on my people here. Never give credit to French-labelled goods, don’t buy them,” Erdoğan said during a televised speech.

He has underlined that European leaders must put an end to Macron’s “anti-Islam” agenda.

He has called on the Islamic world to embrace Muslims in France who are “oppressed.” Erdoğan has made a call to world leaders to embrace Muslims in France.

“I see the enmity of Islam and Muslims spread to societies like the plague,” he stated.

“I’m calling out to Merkel. You had freedom of religion, so how is it possible that more than 100 police officers attack mosques in a morning prayer?” he said, noting that Turkey “has a real freedom of religion.”

The rising Islamophobia in the West has turned into a total attack on the Quran and the prophet, Erdoğan stated.

The president said on Oct. 24 that Macron had a problem with Muslims and needed mental checks - a rebuke that caused France to recall its ambassador from Ankara.

He made similar comments criticizing Macron again the next day and on Oct. 26 in Ankara.

“These attacks began with the encouragement of the leader of France who is in need of [mental checks],” Erdoğan said, adding that these attacks have become a policy encouraged at the top of state-level in France.

Attacks on Muslims have become commonplace in the western states, the president warned.

Erdoğan also addressed the European Union and said that the body speaks up on every issue related to Turkey, and it cannot stay silent in the face of Islamophobia.

He recalled “massacres” of the Second World War and warned to abstain from such provocations.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and a bloc of Muslim nations condemned remarks by Macron last week.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted on Oct. 25 that Macron chose “to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists’’ and “to deliberately provoke Muslims, including his citizens.’’

On Oct. 23, the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, condemned the “ongoing practice of running satirical caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad,” stating that it “will continue to decry justification for blasphemy of any religion in the name of freedom of expression.’’