Turkey’s Erdoğan calls for boycott of French goods after Macron defends Muhammad cartoons

The leader of Turkey is calling on citizens to boycott French products after French President Emmanuel Macron defended a teacher who was murdered by an 18-year-old radical Islamist, vowing to crack down on radical elements in France.

“Never give credit to French-labelled goods, don’t buy them,” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday during a speech in Ankara, according to the BBC and CNN.

“European leaders must say ‘stop’ to Macron and his campaign of hatred,” he added.

His remarks come amid a deepening dispute between Turkey and France over the treatment of Muslims in France. French authorities argue they are taking necessary steps to crack down on radical Islamist groups following the murder of a teacher outside Paris after his decision to display cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad during a lecture about free speech.

Erdoğan reportedly argued Monday that Muslims in France and Europe are “subjected to a lynch campaign similar to that against Jews in Europe before World War 2.”

CNN reported that similar boycott campaigns, which the French government condemned as “unjustified” in a Sunday statement, are underway in Kuwait and Jordan.

Macron wrote in a statement posted to Twitter on Sunday that France would continue to uphold the values of liberty and free expression.

“We will not give in, ever,” he tweeted. “We respect all differences in a spirit of peace. We do not accept hate speech and defend reasonable debate.”

We will not give in, ever.
We respect all differences in a spirit of peace. We do not accept hate speech and defend reasonable debate. We will always be on the side of human dignity and universal values.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 25, 2020