Erdogan: Macron needs treatment over attitude to Muslims

Erdogan: Macron needs treatment over attitude to Muslims

by Joseph Anthony
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is unhappy with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan launched a fresh attack on his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, saying he needed mental treatment over his attitude towards Muslims and Islam.

Earlier this month, Macron pledged to fight โ€œIslamist separatismโ€, which he said was threatening to take control in some Muslim communities around France, drawing a sharp rebuke from Erdogan.
France has since been shaken by the beheading of a history teacher by an Islamist radical, who had wanted to avenge the teacherโ€™s use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression.
โ€œWhat is the problem of this person called Macron with Muslims and Islam? Macron needs treatment on a mental level,โ€ Erdogan said in a speech at a provincial congress of his AK Party in the central Turkish city of Kayseri.
โ€œWhat else can be said to a head of state who does not understand freedom of belief and who behaves in this way to millions of people living in his country who are members of a different faith?โ€ Erdogan added.
Erdogan is a pious Muslim and since his Islamist-rooted AK Party first came to power in 2002 he has sought to shift Islam into the mainstream of politics in Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim but secular country.
The Turkish president said on Oct. 6 after Macronโ€™s initial comments on โ€œIslamist separatismโ€, that the remarks were โ€œa clear provocationโ€ and showed the French leaderโ€™s โ€œimpertinenceโ€.
Turkey and France are NATO members but have been at odds over issues including policies in Syria and Libya, maritime jurisdiction in the eastern Mediterranean and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Erdogan and Macron discussed their disagreements in a phone call last month and agreed to improve ties and keep communication channels open.
REUTERS

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