Charlie Hebdo mocks Turkish President Erdogan; Turkey calls it ‘cultural racism’

French satirical magazine Charle Hebdo has caricatured Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in its latest edition. The front-page cartoon shows Erdogan drinking a can of beer and lifting up the skirt of a woman wearing a hijab.

“Ooh, the prophet!” the character says in a speech bubble, while the title proclaims “Erdogan: in private, he’s very funny”.

The cartoon comes after Erdogan questioned the mental health of French President Emmanuel Macron for treating “millions of members from different

Turkey accused the Charlie Hebdo of “cultural racism” over the new cartoon.”We condemn this most disgusting effort by this publication to spread its cultural racism and hatred,” Erdogan’s top press aide, Fahrettin Altun, tweeted.

“French President Macron’s anti-Muslim agenda is bearing fruit! Charlie Hebdo just published a series of so-called cartoons full of despicable images purportedly of our President.”

The front-page caricature of Wednesday’s edition of Charlie Hebdo, released online on Tuesday night.

Defending the Freedom of Speech, Macron had recently commented that Islam worldwide is “in crisis”. Macron vowed that France would stick to its secular traditions and laws guaranteeing freedom of speech which allow publications such as the virulently anti-religion Charlie Hebdo to produce cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Earlier Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had come to the defence of Dutch politician Geert Wilders after Erdogan brought legal action against him. Wilders had shared a cartoon of the Turkish president wearing an Ottoman hat shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse on Twitter. “I have a message for President Erdogan and that message is simple: In the Netherlands, freedom of expression is one of our highest values,” Rutte said.

Previously, European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel had defended Macron after Erdogan suggested he needed “mental checks”. “They are defamatory comments that are completely unacceptable, particularly against the backdrop of the horrific murder of the French teacher Samuel Paty by an Islamist fanatic,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said.