Erdogan called Macron mentally ill. In doing so, he referred to the statements made by Macron in connection with the murder of Samuel Pati and stating that Islam is in crisis. In the relation between Ankara and Paris, exacerbations have been observed more than once — for example, over Libya, the gas conflict in the Mediterranean Sea, and the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. What in this sense can a new scandal mean?
Erdogan makes himself a victim again
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, there is a political calculation behind Erdogan’s rhetoric:
“Erdogan is too eager to resort to we are the victims’ narrative and accuses Europe of racism towards Muslims. Not a word about the crimes that have ever been committed in the name of Islam … by the self-proclaimed ‘warriors of Allah’. But these are not just deeply religious people who, perhaps, do not accept the secular world and cannot get along with it, but murderers, often with a criminal past, who only cover up their crimes with religion. … Macron is right in his call to rebuff the enemies of a free society. And the authoritarian Islamist Erdogan, of course, immediately sees freedom of expression as a culture war against Muslims. And all his ranting has clear political goals. “
Muslims believe they are under Christian occupation
The Naftemporiki edition picks up the arguments used by Islamophobes and the far-right, and itself takes the numbers from the ceiling:
“In the 21st century, more than 70 million Muslims live in Europe, including Russia and the European part of Turkey. Of these, about 18 million live in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. … The first thing that those born will learn is that they are living ‘under the Christian occupation’. … In France and Belgium, this kind of ‘catechism’ has taken on incredible proportions, as evidenced by the number of young people who have traveled to Syria and other countries over the past five years to, together with other Islamic State mercenaries, ‘fight the infidels.’
EU must react harder
Brussels should clearly show Turkey where the red line is, writes El Pais:
“This conflict is not only bilateral. In addition to the question [of exploration for natural gas] in the Mediterranean, Erdogan is betting on an aggressive foreign policy that in many ways leads to conflict. … The Islamist-nationalist dialectic, which led him to sharply criticize Macron’s legislation in relation to jihadist ideology in France and to the idea of getting used to his unauthorized role as a defender of the faith, all this only adds to the list of problematic points. This position is unacceptable and the EU is obliged to react with all the toughness.“
